Elseworlds: The Chosen
by Dellore
Summary: My name is -Error- A man from -Error- goal: to save Star City. But when -Error- Oliver Queen and his friend, Barry Allen, have somehow switched lives, I along with other friends and allies must help find the source of this reality altering magic and put a stop to it before it is too late. (Continuation of "Arrow: Rise of the Vigilante's." Includes all DC CW heroes and more.)
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes:** This story is a continuation from my previous story, "Arrow: Rise of the Vigilante's." I would highly recommend reading that story so you are caught up with everything.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Based on characters and references created by the CW and DC Universe, which I do not own.

* * *

_He walked up to the podium at the edge of the stage. In front of him were more than a dozen reporters, some that he recognized while others…_

_Wait. What's up with their faces? Some of them are…_

_Nevermind. Anyways, he cleared his throat. _

"_Thank you all for coming," he began. "For too long, the greater mysteries of past has been unknown. Archeology and science have provided us with many answers, but not all. Did anything exist before the birth of the universe? Did dinosaurs exist at the same time as Adam and Eve? Were there really two nations that fought over a pretty girl?"_

_The reporters chuckled at his sarcastic question._

"_Don't get me wrong. Observations and deductions have been essential to satisfy our want for answers. But we have yet to find a way that gives us SUBSTANTIAL evidence to the unknown. That is, until now."_

_He took out the remote from his pocket and pointed it at his latest invention._

"_Ladies and gentlemen…the time camera!"_

_With a press of a button, he brought up a holographic image of the entire room. With another button, he rewound the camera back, showing him and the crowd walking backwards. Within a few seconds, it showed the last meeting, then the next, and the next. Eventually, it showed a party in 2016, then a board meeting in 2005._

"_What you are witnessing is the power of time itself in OUR hands," he explained. "By tapping into the fabric of time, we can see what this room was like all the way up to when it was built or before it even had a foundation. You can see what was built before and when the land was nothing but a forest!"_

_The crowd was amazed. Mouths gaped and eyes widened as the room deconstructed itself, showing workers walking backwards and metal pillars being torn down. Eventually, the forest he mentioned appeared, first looking withered, and then blooming into something beautiful._

"_And it's not just limited to a room. With it, you can see the history of a whole city right before your very eyes!"_

_He turned off the camera and placed the remote on the podium. "Now, are there any questions?"_

_All of them raised their hands, calling out for them to be picked. He pointed to one of the reporters he recognized. "Yes, Ms. Vale?"_

_Valerie Vale cleared her throat and turned her wrist mic on to record the conversation. "Thank you. Tell me, will these 'time cameras' serve any other purpose?"_

"_Well, yes," he answered. "They're for that kid who wants to prove to their parents that they didn't break the family vase."_

_The reporters laughed. He couldn't help but smile amusingly at his own humor._

_He waited for most of the reporters to settle down before speaking again. "But, for real, we already have contracts to have them used for security purposes. Banks, museums. Even homes will be outfitted with what will be the best security system in the world within a few years. GUARANTEED. Anyone else?"_

_They raised their hands and called again. _

_This time, he picked a new face. "Yes, you."_

_The man's face became clearer…familiar…how did William recognize…_

"_Uh, Simon Morrison, sir," The man introduced…wait. That name sounds… "I was wondering, with the development of this kind of technology, do you believe time travel could be possible?"_

_His voice. His black, combed back hair. It all looked so…so…_

"_You think you can save your family?" His tone changed from a professional reporter to something more sinister. "You think you can save what's left when you couldn't save your mom?"_

_Wait a minute! Simon Morrison? That's the real name of…_

_He quickly turned to leave, only to find Adrian Chase aiming the same gun he used to kill himself at his torso._

_With a sinister smirk, he says, "It's time William."_

* * *

William Queen, the man from the future, wakes up, breathing heavily and clutching the part of the stomach that Adrian Chase shot. At least, the nightmare version of Chase. It does not take William long to steady his breathing.

He gets up and sits on the edge of the bed, unclutching his stomach and wiping the sweat from his forehead. Afterwards, he ponders on the nightmare. He hasn't had one like that all week. Not since his father, Oliver Queen, got out of jail and joined ARGUS, along with other members of Team Arrow, to create Nightwatch. The nightmare was similar as the ones he had before: Adrian Chase taunting William of his failures before being shot and waking up.

However, the line Chase said at the end was…odd. His voice was as if two people were talking at once. William cannot shake off how…familiar the second voice was.

And the line itself was unusual. _"It's time William."_

_Time for what? Time…_

William's eyes shoot wide open. _Wait! What time is it?_

William looks over to the clock next to him, seeing that it is 9:00 in the morning.

"Oh crud," William says. "Breakfast! I'm late!"

Without another moment to waste, William makes haste to get ready to head to the Apartment Felicity and Oliver are currently staying at.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Hello readers! I hope you enjoyed the prologue to "Elseworlds: The Chosen." There will be more to come. This story, unlike my previous, will be in a more traditional book format, with short chapters instead of long episodes. This means chapters will be coming at a faster rate than usual. So, if you don't want to miss a chapter, click the follow story button. And, as the story progresses, favorite and/or review it if you wish.

Also, to those of you who have read my previous story "Arrow: Rise of the Vigilante's" before, welcome back and thank you for sticking around.

Have a good day and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!


	2. Chapter 1: The Weirdest Day

**Disclaimer:** Based on characters and references created by the CW and DC Universe, which I do not own. Enjoy.

* * *

"Honey! Breakfast's ready!"

He opens his eyes to the sound of her voice. A voice he should find familiar. He looks up to a ceiling and down to a bed that he should recognize after rubbing his eyes to confirm that he is not hallucinating. To his dismay, Oliver does not.

He quickly sits upright, confused as to why he is here. He does eventually recognize his current environment as the bedroom of Barry and Iris Allen. Oliver remembers it from the time he and Felicity came to visit last year.

Oliver looks all around the room, seeing a couple of shelves on the side, a white, thin brick wall behind him. Outside the window is a view of a street in Central City and, to his surprise, a red sky.

Oliver has no recollection on how he got here. Just as he feels himself about to call out to Iris and ask, he stops and takes a deep breath.

_No. Try to remember. I must have gotten here somehow. What was the last thing I did? I…I woke up this morning and…_ Oliver pinches the bridge of his nose, his hazy memories becoming clearer. _I went to ARGUS because John challenged me to a match to see if…_

"Come on!" The voice booms again, the tone now clearer and more distinct with Oliver feeling more awake. It was Iris West-Allen. "It's going to get cold!"

Not seeing Barry in the room, Oliver assumes that Iris is talking to him.

"Uh…coming!" Oliver responds, seeing if Iris would respond in confusion. For some reason, Iris doesn't even check up on him.

Oliver sighs. _Just…go with it. For now._

As soon as Oliver enters the living room, he is greeted by a reflection of himself in a green shirt and tan pants. He doesn't even own these cloths. But what also catches his eye is a photo of him sitting with…

_Iris!? But …wait. The date on the photo. It says…_ Oliver shakes his wide-eyed head. _This is years ago! We've never even met. How—_

"Morning babe," Iris, who is wearing a black skirt and a black shirt with colored stripes, says with an enthusiastic tone. She hands Oliver a plate of pancakes shaped like lightning bolts.

Still not seeing Barry, Oliver begins to assume to whom Iris is talking to. _Did she call me—_

"I cooked them right this time."

Without warning, Iris plants a kiss on Oliver's lips. His confusion turns into shock as his eyes become even wider than before.

_WHAT THE HELL!? WHY THE HELL!?WHAT AND WHY THE HELL!?_

Iris leans away, not looking shocked as Oliver is. Not even guilty. She just smiles as she moves to the table, as if she does not know what she has done.

Oliver doesn't know what to do or say. Thoughts are shooting out all at once.

"Uh…I…" Oliver stutters. As he forces his brain to focus, he walks to the table while trying to form a sentence. "He…He's probably coming back at any moment."

Iris maintains her smile as she sets her pancakes on the table. "Babe, I know we haven't caught Cicada yet, but Cisco and Caitlin are working round the clock to—"

"Iris!" Oliver interrupts with a controlled tone. "Who is Cicada?"

Iris raises an eyebrow. "Cicada. Our newest baddie that we've been tracking for the last 3 months." Iris then leans on the table. "Are you okay Barry?"

Oliver freezes in place, trying to show no emotion. _Barry? She thinks I'm Barry? Okay, something is very, VERY wrong. She somehow doesn't know it and, most likely, nobody else does. Just play along for now. _

"Yeah," Oliver says as he walks to the table and sits in the seat next to Iris. "Yeah. I'm fine. I just…I just didn't get enough sleep last night because of…Cicada."

"Oh," Iris responds, Oliver glad that she didn't see through the lie. "Well, listen." She sits down and takes Oliver by the hand, making him uncomfortable inside, making it harder to keep his poker face up. "Don't worry. You ARE going to stop him. You always save the day. I believe this. Nora believes this. and so should you."

Her assuring words don't give Oliver comfort. If anything, they accomplish nothing except cement the fact that something is very wrong. These are things he should be saying to…

_Barry! If I somehow became him, he's also become me. I need to find him. Fast. Just come up with an excu—_

Suddenly, a beeping is heard from Iris' skirt pocket. She reaches into it and takes out a phone.

Oliver stays silent, trying to stave off the frustration he feels.

"It's Cisco," Iris says. "He says there's been a break in at IVO Labs." Iris quickly gets up and rushes to the bedroom. "Wait here! I'll get the ring."

Oliver stands up with a raised eyebrow.

_Ring? What ring?_

He looks to the door, seeing this as his opportunity to escape. However, he hesitates.

_Even if I do get out, I don't know how I'm going to find him. I don't have his super…_ He looks over to the kitchen counter, tilting his head a bit. _Do I though? _He then shrugs his shoulders. _Only one way to find out._

As if by reflex, he runs to the counter. As he does, a strange surge of power overflows him, like lightning coursing through his veins. The world around him seems slow, and yet he is halfway to his destination in nanoseconds.

As he reaches the counter, he tries to stop himself. Taking too long to figure out how, he ends up almost falling face first on the countertop, his arms supporting him.

Oliver takes a moment to breathe. "WOW, that is a rush," he whispers, not wanting Iris to hear that.

"Barry!" Iris calls out. Remembering that he is Barry now, Oliver runs normally out of the kitchen and finds Iris holding a ring with the Flash emblem on it. "Here."

Iris tosses the ring to Oliver. He gazes at it for a moment after catching it. It feels almost familiar to him. Then, as if by instinct or reflex, he puts the ring on, closes his fist, and points the ring away from him. The ring opens and dispenses what looks like the Flash suit, but with a different design.

Again, out of reflex, he speeds up and puts the suit on. The instant he stops, He looks back at the mirror, seeing the suit in full display. Unlike Flash's last suit, which had more armor and gadgetry, this suit looks simplistic, while feeling comfortable and light.

Oliver lets out a subtle sigh, for seeing himself in a different suit didn't sit right with him.

"Barry," Oliver begins to ask with a shaky voice. "What did you do?"

Seeing that Oliver is being dragged into this, he rushes to IVO Labs, hoping that wherever Barry is, he can hold out for just a little while longer.

* * *

Barry slams onto the floor and…

_Wait! Where the hell…_

"Come on man," a familiar voice above him calls. "Get up!"

Barry looks to where the voice is coming from, seeing John Diggle extending a hand to him.

"What…" Barry tries to ask, out of breath. "What are you doing Diggle?"

"I'm kicking your butt," Diggle vaguely explains with a smirk. "Now get up!"

Barry takes the hand and allows Diggle to pull him up. As he stands, he finds himself in an unfamiliar place. The corner they are in is covered by a blue practice mat and wall while the rest of the room spreading outward has exercise equipment and a couple of computers.

"Uh, Dig. Where are we?" Barry asks. "Is this part of the Bunker renovation?"

"Come on Oliver," Diggle says, "You've been to ARGUS dozens of times."

Barry's eyes grow wide. _Did he just call me—_

Suddenly, Diggle throws a jab, which Barry dodges at the last minute. John then throws cross and an under-hook jab, which Barry oddly knows how to deflect and avoid. Almost as if by reflex. Suddenly, when Diggle employs another hook, Barry blocks it with both arms. He does not counter, still amazed that he even blocked at all. Diggle tries to take advantage of this with a series of punches, but Barry bobs and weaves like a boxer. He still takes a couple of hits, but he brushes them off. Barry then quickly counters with punches of his own, Diggle blocking most of them, but not all. Barry, seeing an opening, finishes Diggle off with an uppercut, which forcing him to the ground.

Taking a breath, Barry finally figures out what is happening. "I'm Oliver Queen."

Diggle groans as he gets up. "Yeah. I'll say."

"I'm the Green Arrow!" Barry exclaims with silent enthusiasm. But that soon faded away when the realization hits him.

_If I'm Oliver, then Oliver is…_

"Oh, this is bad."

"I know," Diggle says as he rubs his jaw. "Even with 6 months in prison, I'm still not as good as you." John then points at Barry with a smirk. "But I'll get there."

Barry looks away and ponders, _Right. Diggle doesn't know I'm not Oliver. I need to play along._

Barry clears his throat as his attention turns back to Diggle. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure you will. Listen, I need to make an emergency call to Star Labs. So, if you'll excuse me—"

Suddenly, a computer across from them starts blaring. Diggle walks over and checks it out.

"It's the Ninth Circle," Diggle says. "They're in a turf war with the Bertinellis at one of Diaz's old storehouses. We need to move."

_Move?! No, no, no. I can't do this. I don't know how to go all Green Arrow!_

"Can't we, uh, let ARGUS or the others handle these Ninth Circle guys?" Barry asks, his voice trembling a bit.

"We can't," Diggle says. "We're the only ones that can get there in time." Diggle grabs a suitcase from one of the tables and hands it to Barry. "Suit up."

_Suit up? Wait!_

Barry opens the case up, seeing the Green Arrow suit in all its glory. He takes it out, seeing a few key differences from Oliver's old suit that he oddly recognizes. This actually looked like William's old suit. Most likely, he leant it to his father after becoming the Red Arrow.

_Oh man, this is going to be awesome. But wait. How do I…_

He looks away from the suit, seeing Diggle already getting on his Spartan suit. Barry catches up, asking, "Hey, uh, how do I put this on? Do I always put it on by myself? Is there a manual?"

* * *

Felicity gets a whiff of the pancakes inside the pan, taking in the aroma of the fresh, light breakfast treat. She hears the timer goes off, indicating that it is about time for them to be served. She takes the pan off of the hot area of the stove and places it near the plates. She takes a spatula and scoops up the pancakes, placing 2 on each plate.

"They ready?" The voice of Mia, the daughter of Oliver and Felicity asks.

"Yeah," Felicity says as she takes 2 of the plates and hands them to Mia. "Take these to the table."

Felicity grabs the last plate and follows Mia. As they place them on the tabletop, a knock on the door is heard.

"I got it," Felicity says. "You eat up."

Mia sits down, cutting up the pancakes as Felicity goes to the door. When she opens it, she sees the face of her stepson from the future.

"Hey Will," Felicity greets him with a smile.

"Hey," William responds back, though his tone sounds a bit disgruntled. "Sorry I'm late. I kind of overslept."

"Don't worry about it," Felicity says with a dismissive hand. "You're just in time. Come on."

"You should try these," Mia says with a somewhat full mouth. "They're actually pretty good."

"I'm sure they are," William says, before whispering into Felicity's ear, "You made those by yourself, right?"

Felicity playfully scoffs as they walk to the table. "Like I said, I have MAD cooking skills."

"Is Dad still at ARGUS?" William asks.

"Yeah," Felicity asks. "Most likely whooping John's butt." Felicity stops halfway to the table to turn to William and ask, "You want coffee with your—"

William isn't even close to Felicity. He is looking at the row of family photos, squinting slightly and leaning in closer, as if inspecting them.

"William?" Felicity calls out. He doesn't answer, his focus on the pictures. She walks towards him and looks at the photos as well, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. It was just them and Oliver, who looks pretty much the same in all of them, including the recent one of them with Mia at the park. Maybe William is surprised at how Oliver still maintains that black combed hair after all this time.

"Look, William," Felicity begins to say. "I know you probably haven't seen a lot of photos with me and your Dad, but that photo was take—"

"You think this is Dad?" William asks when he turns his head to her, his brows furrowed.

"Well, yeah. Who else would that be?"

William takes a photo and points at Oliver. "Felicity, this is Barry Allen."

Now Felicity's brows are furrowing. She shakes her head, but…part of her feels as if William is telling the truth. Somehow. But why?

"No," Felicity denies. "That…that can't be right. I…"

William looks over to Mia. "Mia hasn't changed." He then moves his hand close to his face. "And I haven't changed since I looked in my bathroom mi—"

William's eyes then grow wide and his jaw slightly drops.

Felicity becomes worried. "William? Are you okay?"

For a while, William does nothing. After a few seconds, William puts the photo down and points to Felicity and says, "Call ARGUS and ask them where the Green Arrow is." William quickly takes out a breach beacon and rushes to the door.

"Wait," Felicity calls out. "Where are you going?"

"I need to get to the bunker. Get my suit. Call Billy. He may be the only one who will believe me."

"Will!" Mia calls out as well, running to Felicity's side. "What's going on?"

William opens the door, but he takes a moment to turn around and tell them, "I think someone has tampered with reality."


	3. Chapter 2: Saving the Heroes

**Disclaimer:** Based on characters and references created by the CW and DC Universe, which I do not own. Enjoy.

**Break**

In a rush, Cisco places his coffee on the table and starts to turn on and calibrate all the equipment in front of him.

_Map on. Tracker on Barry's suit is active. Comms channel is clear. Team Flash is live!_

Cisco takes a quick sip from his coffee, watching Barry's movement from the map on the computer screen as he runs at Mach speed towards IVO labs.

"Here's the brief," Cisco says through the comms. "There's 2 bad guys stealing IVO lab's tech. There might be a couple of scientists in there being held hostage, so be careful."

Cisco sees Barry turning onto the same street IVO labs is located just as he is finished giving the run down. However, surprisingly, Barry runs straight past it, being slow to stop.

Cisco narrows his eyes, seeing if the marker is somehow incorrect. So far, nothing seems to be wrong with the tracker. _Did he forget where it was or something?_

"Hey Barry. You might wanna tap the brakes and make a U-turn. You missed it by, like, 10 blocks."

Suddenly, Cisco's phone starts ringing on the table. He looks at the caller ID, seeing it is from Billy Batson, or Shazam as they started calling him when in his superhero form.

Wanting to get the call done with quickly, he answers and quickly says, "Hey Billy. Whatever you need—"

"**Where's the Flash?"** Billy says in his adult voice.

"He's at the scene of a crime right now. Whatever it is, just give me the mess—"

"**Cisco, where is he?!"**

Shocked by Shazam's loud voice, Cisco lets out, "IVO Labs!" Realizing his mistake, Cisco quickly says, "But don't go—"

The phone hangs up before Cisco can finish. Feeling stupid, Cisco plops his head down on the headrest and closes his eyes. "PLEASE don't let this day get any worse."

"**I'm there!"** Barry says frantically.

Cisco brings his head back up and sees Barry's marker just making his way into IVO Labs.

Cisco clears his throat nervously as he says, "Uh…quick update…"

**Break**

"**Shazam is going to crash the party to try and help you,"** Cisco says, his voice trembling a bit. **"Just don't let him get too cocky. Okay?"**

Oliver doesn't know who this Shazam is. But if he is coming to help, then fine. So long as there is a backup plan.

As Oliver enters the main Lab, he sees 4 people in the room. 2 of them are criminals in black hoodies and ski masks. The other 2 are a male and female scientist, sitting next to them and quivering in fear. The room they are in is very open, the tables on each side creating a large yet narrow path. There are a few large boxes and sheets of metal near the end row, where everyone else is.

One of the criminals grabs the female scientist, his arm restraining her by the neck and the other holding a submachine gun.

"Not a step closer Flash!" the criminal yells, his voice drowning out the woman's pleas for help. "Or she gets it!"

Oliver readies himself, feet planted firmly on the ground, ready to dash right at him. He then yells out, "You have failed! THIS! CITY!"

"**I don't think that's your line,"** Cisco says over the earpiece.

Oliver, while realizing Cisco is right, focuses on the criminal and the woman. He runs at super speed, planning to take down the man quickly and take the scientists to safety before finishing the criminals off. Instead, he runs right past them, running into one of the large boxes. However, his speed must have scared the criminals and drawn their attention away from the hostages, for when Oliver gets up, he sees the scientists retreat behind the nearest tables.

The criminals do not go after them. Instead, they aim their guns right at Oliver. Seeing no way to get out without his usual equipment and skills, he raises his hands in front of himself and prepares for the inevitable.

"SHAZAM!"

Out of nowhere, two bolts of white lightning hit the two criminals from behind, sending them hurtling towards Oliver and landing next to him, unconscious. Oliver puts his hands down, seeing a man in red spandex with a yellow lightning bolt on his chest and a white cape with yellow streaks running down it.

He hovers over towards Oliver and extends a hand. "The names Shazam! I have come to help you Green Arrow."

Oliver breathes a sigh of relief before accepting the hand to be pulled up. "It's good to see someone who actually knows who I am."

"One of the benefits of the Wisdom of Solomon," Shazam explains, but the reference flies over Oliver's head. "But that's not how I know. The Red Arrow sent me."

The mention of William's codename grabs Oliver's attention and opens up a couple of new questions.

"Red Arrow knows?" Oliver asks, to which Shazam replies with a nod. "Well, where is he now?"

"Saving the Flash," Shazam answers. "Well, the real Flash."

Hearing that makes Oliver more worried. "Save him from what?"

**Break**

From his perch point, Barry looks down at the garage, seeing a group of thugs loading in weapons crates.

_Okay. So, these guys are the Ninth Circle who, according to Diggle, are badasses who can kill me because I'm NOT Oliver Queen. Why I let Diggle take on the Bertinellis is beyond me! Okay. Just think. They're down there, examining all the weapons in the truck. I shoot one of those incendiary arrows and catch them by surprise, swoop in, and buy some time until Dig shows up. No problem._

With his plan all thought out, Barry takes an arrow out from his quiver and shoots it at the ground in the center of the group of Ninth Circle thugs. However, as it flings into the air, Barry notices the rope attached to the shaft. Instead of exploding, the arrow releases a grapple, its talons digging into the ground.

All the thugs notice it and the ones closest to it grab the rope.

"Oh crap," Barry utters before being pulled down towards the concrete parking lot. Barry manages to land on his feet, but from the height he was at, he was prepared to have broken legs.

Still surprised that he survived, he does not notice one of the thugs throw a punch. Disoriented, he does not stop that thug from grabbing him and throwing him towards the center of the group. Barry manages to roll at the last second, allowing him to stand up and raise his arms up quickly.

The thugs come at him with so many punches and kicks that Barry has a hard time keeping up with them. Eventually, he is pushed against the truck, leaving Barry no room to maneuver anywhere. All he does is block and hopes Diggle can make it in time.

**Break**

_Surrounded. Cannot keep up with the speed of the Ninth Circle enforcers. Barry's running out of time. First, implement flashbang arrow._

From the perch he has just taken, William, in his Red Arrow suit, shoots a flashbang arrow into the center of the crowd, leaving everyone blind when it goes off.

_Next, use rope arrows to take down 2 targets and get down to the lower levels. Take down the last 4 quickly._

Red Arrow takes out 2 rope arrows, aiming at the enforcers closest to him. As soon as the arrows dig their claws into the enforcer's shirts, he drops down, dragging the criminals upwards until they are near the high beams. He then takes his end of the arrow shaft and presses a button that shoots another grapple into the floor, holding the criminals in place.

His attention then turns to the enforcers, who slowly regain their sight. 2 of them charge at him, their arms stretched out wide to grab him at the ready. Red Arrow quickly takes out and shoots concussion arrows at their heads, knocking them out quickly.

Another manages to get in close and employs a hook punch. Red Arrow blocks it with a helmet guard, following it up with a punch to the stomach. With the enforcer hunched over, Red Arrow grabs him from behind, leans as far back as he can, and throws him towards the last enforcer, who flips over him and runs in to attack.

The enforcer comes in with a couple of fast roundhouse kicks, which Red Arrow either blocks or checks. The enforcer then goes for a spinning back kick. Instead of blocking or checking it, Red Arrow grips it with his arm and kicks the back of the pivoting leg, forcing the enforcer down to the ground. He then knocks the enforcer out with a punch to the head.

"Red Arrow!" Barry calls out as the dust settles. Red Arrow sees a smile on his face, but his jaw is also hanging a bit and his eyes are wide, showing more amazement than relief.

"Flash!" Red Arrow calls back, testing to see if Barry is conscious of his own identity.

Though, Barry doesn't seem to listen, or he is still amazed. "Man, that was awes—" Barry stops speaking for a moment, his smile disappearing, but still maintaining the dropped jaw. "Wait a minute. Did you just call me—"

"Yes! I know who you really are, but I don't know what's going on. That's why I need you back at the—"

Red Arrow and Barry hear a car engine coming from somewhere near them. A black car then shoots out into view from the truck and makes its way towards the garage exit.

"It's getting away!" Barry yells, ready to run after it.

"Wait!" Red Arrow says, placing his arm in Barry's way, for he knows who is going to intercept the car.

As instructed, Mia, wearing a light ARGUS suit and a face mask, waits on the high beam just above the entrance. She takes out an arrow and shoots at one of the tires, causing the car to veer off course and into a wall. She then leaps down and proceeds to take out the 2 criminals inside.

"That's Mia, isn't it?" Barry asks, seeing her break the windshield with her bow and slam the head of the driver into the steering wheel.

"Yep," William answers.

"She has her mom's looks."

Mia then drags the passenger out of the car and employs a punch to the face, knocking him out.

"And Dad's brutality…and his restraint."

Mia, when the job is done, walks over to the pair quickly. She then turns her attention to Barry. "Where's Mr. Diggle?"

"Mia? Red Arrow?" The three of them see John approaching from a hallway, wearing the new armored yet flexible Spartan suit Red Arrow made for him. "What are you two doing here?"

Suddenly, another figure, a gangster looking type, comes out of the hallway and aims a gun at John's head.

"DIGGLE!" Mia and Barry cry out, trying to warn him.

Before Red Arrow can take out an arrow, a bolt of white lightning strikes the criminal and sends him towards the wall, knocking him out. They all turn to see Shazam, his finger and thumb pointing at the criminal like a gun. Next to him was Oliver wearing the Flash suit.

"Hey guys!" Shazam greets with a wave. "One displaced Oliver…" Shazam gives Oliver a soft pat on the shoulder. "As requested."

"Wait," John interrupts, pointing towards Oliver. "Did you just call the Flash Oliver?"

Everyone looks up to John, now realizing that he does not know about Oliver and Barry switching lives, just as everyone except Red Arrow believed.

John grimaces, looking at everyone left and right. "Is there something I don't know about?"

Red Arrow looks at Oliver and mouths, "Team Flash too?"

Oliver nods, confirming Red Arrows fears. The Green Arrow and Flash have somehow switched lives, and only he, Shazam, and said heroes somehow had first-hand knowledge of this.

Red Arrow breathes a subtle sigh, knowing that explaining this to John is probably going to be difficult.


	4. Chapter 3: The Reality-Bending Mystery

**Disclaimer:** Based on characters and references owned by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!

* * *

"So, let me get this straight," Diggle interrupts again for the third time as Oliver and William place their suits in the display cases. "You're Oliver—"

"Yes," Oliver says once more while putting on a tan light jacket over his red long-sleeved shirt.

"And he's Barry?"

He points to Barry, still in his Green Arrow suit, climbing the salmon ladder with a big smile on his face.

"As we have explained repeatedly," William says in a tired voice as they walk over to the platform.

"Well, how come you and Shazam are the only ones who know that things have changed?"

"I have the Wisdom of Solomon," Shazam, who is on the platform with Mia watching Felicity work on one of the computers explains with a raised hand.

"As for me…" William shrugs his shoulders. "That is yet to be explained."

"Well, it can't be a coincidence that Barry and I were targeted," Oliver points out as they reach the computer where Felicity is. "We need to get to the bottom of this and find the person responsible for—" Hearing the sound of the salmon ladder once more, Oliver, with a frown, calls out, "Barry! Can you please get down?!"

Barry hops down from the ladder, wipes the sweat from his forehead, and takes a deep, satisfied breath. "What a total Freaky Friday!" Barry exclaims.

"It's a quantum leap actually," William interjects. "You and Dad didn't switch bodies."

"Oh, that's right!" Barry acknowledges, a finger pointing at William. "You guys have a mirror anywhere that I can—"

"Barry!" Oliver interrupts. "We have just switched lives and I would REALLY like to know why. So, can you please get over here and help us figure it out?"

Barry puts up his hands defensively. "Right, right."

As Barry rushes towards the platform, Mia whispers into William's ear, "That is definitely Dad."

William nods and agrees, "Yep."

When Barry finally joins the group, Felicity brings up multiple pictures of Oliver, who is in a wedding photo with Iris West-Allen, and Barry with William, Felicity, and Mia at the park.

Barry's brows furrow, his forehead wrinkling slightly. "Wow, this is weird and somehow disturbing at the same time."

"I looked through the records of the hospitals you were both born in," Felicity begins explaining. "There are no signs of you guys being switched from birth. Even if there were, someone would have to go through a whole lot of trouble since, you know, you guys were in separate cities."

"And the Time Bureau responded to a message I left them before coming to Barry's rescue," William adds. "They found no signs of anomalies. Which leaves one other option."

"Magic?" Oliver finishes.

William nods. "Very powerful magic. Possibly ancient. We can't get John Constantine's input since he and the other Legends of Tomorrow are in who knows what time period. There is another magic expert, but Ava Sharp restricts any visit to her, no matter what."

"I know someone," Shazam says with a grin. "The original Shazam. The person who gave me my powers. Goes by the Wizard now, but he's been around for thousands of years. If there's anyone who knows more about ancient magic than anyone, it's him. I can zip on over there and ask for his advice."

As Shazam explains this, William thinks on this for a moment, stroking his chin. _That can work. But whoever had the ability to change reality might know of Billy's mentor. He or she could be monitoring the situation._

"Even so," William says after Shazam is done. "You'll still need someone to go with you in case our mystery villain set a trap." William turns to Mia and John. "Can you two go with Shazam and provide backup?"

"Hey! Look," Barry yells before either of them could give an answer. "I'm Mayor." On screen is a newspaper article with the words "Mayor Queen the Green Arrow?" on the side. Seeing Barry putting on a serious face feels unnatural to William.

As Barry points this out, Oliver interrupts with a controlled tone, "Barry, can just give us just 5 minutes of seriousness?"

"Come on Oliver. You gotta admit that this is cool."

"I'll find it 'COOL' when I'm waking up in my own bed in the morn—"

Oliver stops dead before he dares to utter the last sentence. He curls his lips in and bows his head, not meeting anyone's gaze, not even Felicity's. But it is too late. Everyone's attention is on him, including a shocked Barry and Felicity.

"You woke up in bed with Iris?" Barry asks, any enthusiasm in his voice swept away.

Oliver does nothing for a moment, eventually giving a small, disgruntled nod. William can tell that either his father is too ashamed to say what really happened or didn't want to hurt the feelings of an already shaken Barry and Felicity.

"We need to fix this right now!" Barry and Felicity exclaim in unison.

Suddenly, a single ring of a phone is heard originating from Oliver's pocket. He takes it out and looks at it quickly.

"It's Cisco," He says. "He and the others have been asking for Bar…me. They're wandering where…" Oliver's eyebrows raise. "Wait."

"What?" William asks.

"This text was sent about 10 minutes ago, just about the time we regrouped at Diaz's storehouse."

"That shouldn't be possible unless…" William's eyes look to the ground and his hands are on his hips. After a minute, He looks back at Oliver. "Has there been any unusual weather patterns in Central City before you came here?"

Oliver nods. "Yeah. When I woke up this morning, there were red skies outside."

"Red skies plus a 10 minute late text could indicate a large amount of red light," Felicity explains. "It may be the source of all of this."

Barry claps his hands together. "Great! Then we can go to Star Labs, get my team's help—"

"It may not be that simple Barry," William interjects. "They may not believe us."

"They will. They've been through stuff like this before."

"And they were unaware that time changed until you shed light on it. Not to mention it brought about Savitar." Everyone looks at William with various looks of surprise. "Yes. I know of Flashpoint. But the point is that there's no telling what they'll do once we explain everything to them."

"Yeah, but…" Barry motions his hands towards himself. "I know them. They'll believe us. Besides, there aren't any alternatives. Remember?"

"Barry's got a point," Felicity agrees.

William lets out a subtle sigh and turns to Oliver. "Are you okay with this?"

Oliver nods. "I am."

William removes his hands from his hips and walks off the platform towards the suit display cases. "In that case, I'm going with you two."

He presses a couple of buttons on the cases with his and Oliver's, technically Barry's, suits. In an instant, they shrink down until they are small enough to fit into a pocket.

"That is awesome!" He hears Barry say in an astonished tone.

"My improvement over Palmer's tech," William explains as he turns back to the group. "Here." He throws the flash suit case over to Oliver. "I know it's not yours, but you're the Flash right now. So, make the most of it." William then turns to Barry. "And you'll need to get out of that and into normal clothing. Dad and I will wait for you."

"Got it," Barry acknowledges as he walks past them and towards the back of the cave to find some proper clothing.

"Felicity," William addresses as he gets back up to the platform. "Think you can stay here and monitor everything?"

"Can do," Felicity says with a nod.

"And we'll head off to find Shazam's mentor," John answers, remembering William's question before being interrupted.

"Great!" Shazam exclaims, placing a hand on the shoulders of Mia and John. "I can get us there in no time flat. You guys have another way out for speedsters?"

William points towards the back of the Bunker. "In the back. Can't miss it."

John takes a step back, but not enough to get away from Shazam's grip. "Wait. You're not going to speed run us there, are—"

"SHAZAM!"

In an instant, they are gone. The speed at which he disappeared is almost the same as the Flash's ability to get in and out of places quickly.

"John gets speed sick?" William asks, seeing the worried looks on his parent's faces.

"Yeah," Felicity and Oliver say in unison.

After a moment, William shrugs his shoulders. "Well, too late now."

"Hey guys!"

They turn and see Barry with a white shirt, blue light jacket, and brown pants. In his hand is a shrunken display case that he shows to everybody. "Good to go."

"Good," William says as he takes out his breach opener. He activates the breach beacon in Star Labs, opening up a way into the cortex. "Then let's get moving."

As he allows Oliver and Barry to go first, the last thing William thinks is, _And let's hope Barry is right._

* * *

"So, let me see if my English is not, uh, rusty," Sheroque says, his French accent making the "u" in rusty sound awkward. "You think that you are not, in fact, Barry Allen, but Oliver Queen?"

All of Team Flash maintain blank stares, as they had since William, Oliver, and Barry explained the reality changing situation to them.

"Have you been time traveling again Barry?" Caitlin Snow finally asks.

"No, I haven't," Barry answers.

Caitlin points to Oliver. "I was talking to Barry."

"I am Barry!"

"Yeah, and I'm Wilddog," Cisco Ramon jokes with an amused smile.

"Easy Wilddog," Sherloque responds.

Cisco looks up to him with a frown. "That was sarcasm."

"Well, it was not GOOD sarcasm!"

"They're telling the truth," William interjects. "Look, test them if you have to, but we're wasting time."

Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon do just that, walking over to get devices that may yield some results. As they pick the devices up, William notices Ramon mouth "Temperamental" in an almost sarcastic way. Caitlin Snow goes over to Barry with a device that William recognizes as a brain scanner.

Caitlin hesitates at first. "Um, may I…"

"Of course," Barry invites with a nod.

She turns on the device and scans all over Barry's head. Within a few seconds, she concludes, "Brain wave activity is normal. Oliver's not under hypnosis or anything like it."

Cisco switches on another device William recognizes, one that scans the tacheon levels in a speedster's body. He scans all of Oliver's body, not even asking permission.

"Tacheon meters are clear," Cisco says before grimacing at Oliver. "No one's been messing with the timeline…AGAIN."

"Come on," Iris West-Allen speaks. "There's no way I can be married to Oliver Queen." She, ironically, looks at Barry when saying this before turning to Oliver and saying. "I'm sorry babe, but you know Oliver's not my type."

"You are NOT married to my dad," William exclaims, his hands motioning from Oliver to Barry. "You are married to Barry Allen!"

"Well, how do you know? How are you the only one who can tell them apart?"

"I just…can. If I had an answer, I would give it to you."

"Iris," Barry begins to say, his voice trembling a bit. "You really don't recognize me?"

Iris shakes her head, only making William more worried.

Oliver then says, "Look, the point is that something is VERY wrong with reality. Right now, you're all our best hope of finding out what's going on."

They do not say anything for a moment, looking each other in the eyes as if trying to find answers from each other. Unfortunately, they find none.

"I propose Team Flash meeting!" Sherloque breaks the silence. "Without ze Flash." He points towards Oliver, but he doesn't correct Sherloque, probably knowing as William does that it is pointless.

Team Flash starts to exit the lab and towards the exit in the cortex. As they do, Iris stops for a moment, places a hand on Oliver's arm, and says, "You know I only have eyes for you babe."

Acting fast, William lets loose one of his bugs onto Iris's shirt, assuring that they have eyes and ears on the meeting.

As she left, Barry frowns and points at Oliver. "If you TOUCHED her—"

"I didn't…touch her." Oliver quickly raises his hands defensively.

"If you even thought about it—"

"It's fine," William assures. However, deep down, he can tell that Oliver is lying, both about waking up with Iris and that he never touched her. More likely SHE touched him. Most likely kissed him. But that is just a suspicion William hoped is not true.

For now, William takes out his phone and opens an app that lets him look through the camera of his bot.

"William," Oliver calls. "Don't tell me you just bugged Flash's team."

"Bugged?" Barry asks, firmly gripping William's shoulder. "I told that I believed in them."

"And you were here for the conversation, right?" William asks back rhetorically. "They were uncertain, which means there's a 50/50 chance that they will betray us. If they do, we'll need to react quickly."

"They won't betray us!"

William pulls his shoulder away from Barry's hand. "And that's exactly what you want to believe Barry. That's how you keep getting burned. You're too trusting. And if there's one thing my mentor taught me, it's to not have too much trust in anyone, or else you'll be vulnerable. A lesson you keep neglecting."

Suddenly, William hears a beeping from his phone. On it is a black screen with white text that says, _"Signal interference."_

_Dang it,_ William thinks. _It must be because of the red-light sky above us. It's getting stronger._

William takes a long, frustrated sigh before putting away his phone and saying to Barry in a controlled tone, "But…I guess we'll have to pray to the Lord that your trust is well placed."

As William sits down in the stool Cisco was previously in, he can hear Barry whisper, "Do we know who his mentor is?"

"No," Oliver whispers back, thinking that William is not listening.

William sighs again, this time more subtly. _Only because Bruce made me swear not to tell anyone._

* * *

It had been a minute since they got to the rock of eternity. And for all that time, Shazam and Mia have been waiting for Diggle to recover from him throwing up every 20 seconds in a paper bag that he conveniently had the moment they stopped. Diggle's heavy breathing slows down, his eyes opening to see again.

"In hindsight," Shazam begins his apology, "I probably should have asked if you we're a speed sick kind of guy."

"You think?!" Diggle yells. He finally gets up and takes one last deep breath. "I have never had such an upheaval in my life."

"Guys!" Mia calls to them. "Can we focus? We're kind of on a clock here."

"Right." Shazam walks over to the center of the empty platform surrounded by a circular formation of mountain peaks. It's hard to tell where they are from here.

Shazam kneels on one knee and places a hand on the floor. "SHAZAM!"

Suddenly, the platform starts to move downwards. As it does, statues are slowly being revealed. Statues of what look like mythical Greek figures. A couple are recognizable to Diggle and Mia, such as Zeus with the lightning bolt, Hercules with the muscular build and wearing a bear pelt, and the man with all the armor and exposed heal is Achilles. The other three are unfamiliar to them.

As they get closer to the bottom, a figure is seen sitting on a stone throne. His face is hard to make out with the hooded cloak he is wearing. He slowly takes it off, revealing an old, dark-skinned man with short hair and an overgrown beard, none of which are very kempt.

When the platform touches down, the man sits up and walks down the stairs that elevate the throne. He greets them in a thick African accent, "Welcome back, Billy Batson."

"Hello Wizard," Shazam greets back. "It's been a while."

"It has. And I see you have brought friends."

"Well, we're not exactly here for a visit. We need your help because—"

"I know why you are here. The shifting of realities. But…" The Wizard bows his head. "You have come in vain. I cannot help you."

All three of them are taken aback by this. Shazam asks for them, "What do you mean you can't help us?"

"It is because all of this and the events to transpire. They have been foretold by God. Written in the Book of Destiny. All of this was to come after his arrival."

Shazam raises an eyebrow. "Whose arrival?"

"The arrival of the Chosen," an unfamiliar voice from behind them says.

They quickly turn around, Mia aiming her bow, John his pistol, and Shazam readies himself to shoot a lightning bolt. They see another dark-skinned man, who is much younger and sporting a light mutton chop beard. He is wearing some kind of high-tech armor, which is green with solid gold streaks.

The man does nothing, looking at them with an unnerving stare. "And I will not let you hinder his test."

Shazam begins to say his signature phrase. However, the stranger shoots out a what looks to be blue energy out of his hand, hitting Shazam and sending him flying towards the stairs leading to the Wizard's throne.

When Shazam gets up, he sees Mia and John being knocked back by the same energy, which is shot just at their feet and pulses from the floor. Unlike him though, they both fall unconscious as they hit the floor.

Shazam tries to get up, but the stranger shoots another energy blast, this time to the head. It does not kill Shazam, but he feels as if a sledgehammer being wielded by 100 men had bludgeoned him.

The last thing he sees before finally losing the strength to stay conscious is the man walking towards him and saying, "Fear not, Billy Batson. My intention was never to kill any of you. You all still have a role to play in the Chosen's test."

* * *

The results of Team Flash's meeting did not go well. Apparently, everyone was indecisive and broke off the meeting to process the information and come to a vote on their own. That was 5 minutes ago.

While William went to convince the others, Oliver is led by Barry to a room in Star Labs he has never seen before. It looks like a lounge. A platform with a few tables, chairs, and a couch are on his right. To the left is a table with a silver pot, cups, and a coffee machine plugged in.

"Look Barry," Oliver says as they reach the narrow path between the platform and table. "If they can't decide, then maybe William's right. They can't help us."

"Yes, they can," Barry disagrees. He then points towards Oliver's right, showing Iris on a balcony just across from the platform. "We can start by getting her on our side."

"Well, how are you going to do it?"

"I'm not. You are."

Oliver, upon hearing this, immediately shakes his head profusely. "No, no, no! Barry, she's your wife!"

"I know! I don't like this as much as you do. But she thinks you're me. You're the only one she can confide in."

Oliver takes a minute to think. While he thinks doing this is a bad idea, Barry is right. If this is their last shot, they must take it.

"Okay," Oliver reluctantly agrees. "What do I do?"

"Just talk to her," Barry says. Oliver nods and starts to walk off. But Barry grabs his arm. "Just…one more thing. If all else fails, just tell her…she's your lightning rod."

Oliver doesn't know what to say to that. That line sounds so stupid and corny. He just waits for Barry to say that he was just joking around. Not hearing anything more from him, Oliver laughs and shakes his head. "I'm not saying that."

Oliver walks away, hearing nothing but Barry's silent, slowly fading whispers saying something about how it works every time.

Oliver stops at the doorway to the balcony, placing a hand on the frame.

"Mind if I join you?" Oliver asks Iris.

"Sure," Iris answers, motioning her head invitingly.

Seeing a lone Champaign glass on the railing, he grabs it and takes a large sip after saying, "This might help."

"Then either you are Oliver Queen, or you've forgot that you can't get drunk."

Oliver breathes a heavy sigh. "This day is getting worse by the minute."

Oliver notices Iris eyeing him all over. Her fingers fiddle with the stem of her glass and her lips are slightly parted. It's as if she wants to say something but does not know where to begin.

"You know something is wrong, don't you?" Oliver asks.

"Maybe," Iris asks with a flat voice. "Thinking this over, having time to just process this…a part of me, a part of all of us, somehow believes you might be right. Especially…especially when you were standing side by side with William."

"Then what is stopping you from helping us?"

"What's stopping us, Barry, Oliver…whoever you are, is that time changed twice because of you!" Her voice is now louder, almost cracking. "One of those times created Savitar and…and took the man I loved away. Not to mention Devoe tricked us into getting you out of the Speed Force to achieve his master plan! In all those times, we've been one step behind."

"And we won't be. Barry and I are here. William is…is…"

Suddenly, Oliver's head starts to spin. He tries to move, but his legs are moving in multiple directions at once. He tries to reach for something, anything. His legs, now feeling like jelly, give out. At the last minute, he catches the railing, preventing himself from hitting the floor.

_This…this is impossible…She…she said…Unless…_

His slightly blurry vision can see Iris bowing her head down, refusing to meet his gaze.

"N…nanites?"

Iris keeps her head down, her echoing, cracking voice saying, "I'm sorry."

He looks to where Barry is, who starts to head for the exit. Unfortunately, he is knocked out by Ralph Dibney with a punch to the face.

Unable to fight off the nanites, Oliver's vision blackens, but not before he utters, with all his strength, "Run William." Hopefully, somehow, even if it was just a whisper, William has heard him.

* * *

William, after what seems like an eternity, finally finds one of Flash's teammates, Caitlin Snow. She sits in front of one of the tables of the smaller lab, seemingly talking to herself. Expecting a trap, William walks in cautiously, emptying his mind except for the important observations he is making.

_Passing table to my left. Faint sound of fingers tapping on metal. Impatience. Anticipation. Nearing Caitlin Snow now. Head of Cisco Ramon peering slightly from right side of the elevated platform. Doesn't suspect a thing. Waiting to ambush me. Empty seat with wheels next to Snow. If all goes wrong, be prepared to escape._

William stands over Caitlin, who still talks to the empty air in front of her, "But what if they're right? We might be making a—"

"Hi."

Caitlin Snow jumps a bit and turns around. "Oh! Hi. Sorry. I didn't hear you come in."

"It's alright," William assures. He gestures to the empty seat next to them. "May I?"

"Of course," Caitlin Snow says with a nod.

William sits down and looks Caitlin right in the eyes. "You're still deciding?"

"Uh, yeah," she says, her eyes subtly shifting away from William to the table across from them. No doubt, she is stalling for Cisco to grab him. "I…want to believe you. But Frost doesn't really trust people she barely knows."

"Frost?" William asks with a raised eyebrow. "Your metahuman persona? That's who you were talking to just now?"

"Yeah." Her eyes stop shifting. Cisco must be getting ready to grab him. "I know it sounds weird."

William quickly shifts his seat to face the table, deterring Cisco's attempt to grab him. "You're at least not crazy."

He briefly glances at the platform, seeing no Cisco in sight. He can hear the slight mummer of him saying "damn it" under his breath just near the stairs.

He places his arms on the table and leans in a bit, keeping his attention on Caitlin Snow. "But tell me, Ms. Snow—"

"Please, call me Caitlin."

William nods. "Right, Caitlin. I just want to know that you aren't going to do anything…irrational."

Caitlin shifts her eyes away from William again, this time without any subtlety. "What exactly do you consider irrational?"

William leans in a bit closer to her. "Thinking that because you you've been one step behind in the past, you think that you're one step ahead now. To think that the only way to deal with the problem is to contain it. It's not! You would be acting out of fear. And trust me, I KNOW what it is like to make judgements based on fear. They NEVER end well. Whichever part of you, Caitlin or Frost, is experiencing that fear, don't let it rule you. Do the right thing!"

Suddenly, Caitlin slowly frowns. Her eyes turn from natural blue to icy, her voice becoming as cold as them, "We are."

Anticipating Cisco Ramon charging after him, William places his hands on the edges of the table and pushes away. Luckily, Cisco indeed was there and falls onto Frost's lap.

William quickly turns around, seeing Sherloque in a boxer's fighting position. William quickly gets up, slipping under the first hook Sherloque employs. He then immediately grabs Sheloque by his torso and throws him over the table on their right.

Hearing Cisco coming at him with a battle cry, William employs a spinning back kick to his stomach, following it up with a hook that forces Cisco to turn around. William then sees Frost's palm surrounded by a snowy mist, indicating a possible ice blast. Acting fast, William grabs Cisco in a chokehold before Frost can get a shot off from her icy hands.

"STOP!"

Frost stops just as her arm is raised. She does not fire her ice blast but does not lower her arm either.

"I'm leaving," William starts demanding. "I'm taking Barry and my dad with me. You try and stop us, and I will ensure that Mr. Ramon is in for a world of hurt."

Cisco turns his head as much as he can, his eyes widening in fear. "Dude! Would you seriously think about hurting a fri—"

William tightens his hold over Cisco's neck, making him choke a little. "Says the 'FRIEND' who just tried to AMBUSH me."

Suddenly, William hears something elastic coming towards him. He turns his head, seeing Ralph Dibney, aka Elongated Man, already employing a stretched-out punch that is gaining towards William fast. Being too close to react to, William takes the blow, forcing himself to let go of Cisco. At that moment, a blast of ice shoots out from Frost's hand, sending William hurling halfway across the room.

William slowly tries to get up, but Ralph Dibney shoots his hand out again, this time knocking William out for good.


	5. Chapter 4: Escape from Star Labs

**Disclaimer**: Based on characters and references created by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!

* * *

_William opens his eyes, feeling no pain from Dibney's punch. He expects himself to be in a cage or in one of the labs. Instead, He finds himself in a forest. _

_William slowly gets up and looks around. Trees and grass invade everything in front of him. Yet, he cannot help but feel that this place is…familiar._

"_Think big," a distant yet familiar voice behind him says, leaving behind an echo that becomes louder every time the phrase begins again._

_William turns around, seeing…him! Of course, him. William should have known that he was behind this. He stands in a parking lot next to another man whose face William cannot see. But from the long hair and white coat, William suspects the man of being a weary scientist. The man holds a book that is emanating power from its pages. _

_William quickly walks towards him and the man. His voice is now even louder, yet not enough to make William's eardrums ache. Barely halfway there, he disappears, leaving the man on his own and the echoes of the phrase cease. William stops and readies himself, somehow believing that he is still here somewhere. _

"_It is time, William," his voice utters from behind._

_William's eyes grow wide. He remembers that saying, even though it is pronounced a bit differently. It was from his dream, told to him by Adrian Chase before being shot. It all makes sense now._

_William, now frowning and clenching his fist, turns around. Instead of seeing him, however, he sees Shazam in handcuffs._

"_William!" Shazam yells._

_William's eyes grow wide again. "Billy?!"_

"_William! Listen to me! Mia and Mr. Diggle are fine, but you need to get to Earth 38! Train up Barry and Oliver! He plans to—"_

* * *

"Guys! Come on, guys! Let us out!"

William wakes with a start, seeing Barry slamming on a large glass door. He then feels a hand on his shoulder.

"William," a familiar voice says next to him. He turns and sees Oliver wearing handcuffs. "Are you okay?"

William feels a slight headache from Ralph Dibney's punch, but he still nods and says, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

William stands up slowly, Oliver keeping a hand ready to support him. Upon looking around, William finds himself in a room with blue tiled walls, along with a black ceiling and floor. Beyond the glass door is a hallway with a control panel next to the door, as well as panels along the bottom of the wall that may be covering some wiring. William has seen this kind of setup before.

"Are we…are we in a meta prison?"

Barry turns around, his wrists also in handcuffs. "It's not a meta prison. It's a tesla conductor tube with meta dampening tech."

William wants to cross his arms but finds that he is handcuffed too. Instead, he and Oliver tilt their heads slightly and look at Barry with raised eyebrows until he sighs.

"Okay, fine. It's a meta prison." He steps away from the door and looks up at the roof, possibly towards a camera. "We just have to show them that we're NOT CRAZY."

"It's no use," William says. "Their actions are being driven by fear. They won't listen to us. Besides, I think the storm is messing with their cameras."

"Then we need to get out of here," Oliver suggests. "Get back to the Bunker and have Felicity and the others figure things out."

"We can't." William quickly says. "Don't ask me how, but…I just had a vision. Billy's been captured."

"What!?" Oliver asks, his eyes wide in fear. "What about John? Mia?!"

"They're fine. At least, according to Billy. But he told me to get you guys to Earth 38 and train you there. We got cut off before he could explain why."

"I think I do," Barry says. "The reality change may only have happened on this Earth. Maybe Earth 38 was unaffected. We go there, find Kara, and she can help us out."

"Sounds good," William agrees. "We can find a way to contact the Bunker when we get there. Right now, let's focus on how we can get out of here. Hold on a sec."

William wraps his hand around his thumb and prepares to dislocate it.

"Whoa! Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Oliver protests, grabbing William's hand. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Dislocating my thumb so I can get out of these cuffs," William explains. "What else?"

"You're going to break your hand!"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are!"

"NO, I'M NOT because my mentor helped me stretch and condition my ligaments. Now, please let me get to work."

Oliver hesitates for a moment, but eventually let's go. William then dislocates the thumb and slips out of the cuff. After fixing the thumb, he does the same to the other, taking the handcuffs off entirely and dropping them onto the floor.

"See Dad?" William tries to assure Oliver. He then turns to Barry. "Now you Barry."

Barry looks down at his hands with a slightly gaping jaw and shakes his head. "No. No way! I'll break my hand!"

"No, you won't," Oliver assures. "You're me right now, and like me, your ligaments have been stretched and conditioned by Anatoly Knyazev in the art of escape. Now, man up, apply pressure and dislocate your thumb!"

Barry takes a deep breath and reluctantly does what William did before. Unlike William, Barry grunts as he does the process, not used to the pain.

After throwing the cuffs down, Barry chuckles in relief. "I actually did it."

"Yeah, you did," William congratulates. "Now, how do we get out of here?"

Barry looks around the room. "Well, we need Oliver to phase us out, but the meta dampener is on, so it's impossible-." Barry stops when his eyes lay on the right corner of the room. He narrows his eyes. "Unless…"

Barry runs over there and kicks the side wall lightly. Coming out of it is a metal toilet with some exposed wiring on the top part of it.

"I always wondered how every meta criminal went to the bathroom in here," Oliver remarks.

Barry then places a hand into the toilet water, reaching for something. William immediately catches on to Barry's plan.

"You're backing up the pipes to fry the dampener, aren't you?"

"Yeah, and I should be done…now!" Barry says as a clicking sound from the toilet echoes in the cell. He retracts the hand, shaking off the toilet water. "Okay, now give it a minute."

They can hear the roaring sounds of pipes rupturing, traveling from the toilet to further up the cell. Eventually, they hear the crackle of electricity and the low hum of technology shutting down.

"Dampener is down," William says when turning to Oliver. "Okay Dad, your turn. Phase out of the cuffs and then out of here with us."

"Right," Oliver responds in an almost reluctant tone. "What is that again?"

"Phasing," Barry begins to explain. "It's when I vibrate at the frequency of air causing all the cells in my body to get excited so I can pass through solid objects."

Oliver nods. "Okay, got it."

Oliver stands in front of the glass door, holds his hands up to his waist and takes a deep breath. For the first few seconds, nothing happens. William begins to tap his foot impatiently.

Barry is hesitant, but eventually asks, "Do you need any advice on—"

"I'm concentrating here Barry!" Oliver insists.

William subtly sighs. _Sure you are Dad._

"It's kind of hard to do," Barry continues, despite Oliver's anger. "If you screw it up, you'll phase halfway through the glass…"

As Barry is lecturing, Oliver turns around, opening his mouth to shout again. Instead, after a couple of seconds, he starts laughing. To William and Barry, it's very random for Oliver to do so. Unnatural even.

"What?" Barry asks.

"I-I didn't realize," Oliver begins to explain, his laughter almost preventing any words from coming out. "Your-your thumbs look ridiculous!"

William looks at Barry's thumb, seeing how bent and loopy they look. He almost laughs himself, but holds it in.

Barry, however, looks at his thumbs in wide-eyed horror. "Oh God! I forgot to fix my thumbs. How do I even—"

Suddenly, the sound of handcuffs hitting the floor comes out of nowhere. William and Barry see, to their surprise, Oliver now free of his cuffs.

"Wow," William says. "That was fast."

"Whoa," Oliver says in amazement, looking at his hands with a smirk.

"Yeah. You did it," Barry says, sounding almost bitter. "Now let's get out of here."

Oliver places his hand on the glass while William and Barry place theirs on Oliver's shoulders. William can feel the familiar rush of a speedster's run, his body as light as air as they went through the glass. When they stopped, William feels some disorientation, given that he hasn't ridden with a speedster for a while.

"Figured it out!" Oliver exclaims.

When the disorientation passes, William feels his pockets for the breach beacon and miniature case with his suit. None of them are in there.

"Dang it! They took our stuff."

"I think I know where it is," Barry says. "Follow me."

"Uh, Barry," William calls before Barry starts walking out, pointing to his thumbs.

"Oh! Right," Barry realizes. "I don't—"

"Let me."

As soon as Barry's thumbs were fixed, he leads them on. As they cautiously walk through the hallways of Star Labs, William can't help but think about what Shazam was about to tell him before he woke up. What HE has planned.

* * *

Barry leads them into the small lab where his team ambushed William. Awaiting them on one of the tables are the cases with their suits and William's breach beacon. He runs to them and examines the one with his suit, indicated by the red arrow on the top. He examines it, seeing a couple of minor scratches on the lock, but no signs of entry.

He then looks at the breach beacon, flipping it to the front and back. There are no scratches, nor any fingerprints. He puts his thumb on the scanner that nearly blends in with the rest of the metallic surface and activates it.

William smirks. "Still intact." He places his case in his pocket and points the breach beacon away from Oliver and Barry. "Now, let's get to Earth 38 quick before—"

"Hey guys!"

The three of them immediately turned towards the door, readying themselves to fight whoever is there to stop them from leaving. However, instead of being one of the members of Team Flash who locked them up, it is someone else. Nora Allen, Barry and Iris' daughter, wearing a black jacket and black pants with a white shirt underneath.

Nora puts her hands up quickly. "Wait, wait, wait! It's just me! What's going on?" Nora then looks at Oliver and raises an eyebrow. "And why is Oliver Queen wearing your ring, Dad?"

The three of them exchange glances of surprise before Oliver asks, "So, you know I'm Oliver and he's Barry?"

"Yeah," Nora answers in an awkward tone.

Oliver then shakes his head, as if he is missing something. "Wait, who even are you?"

"Oh right," Barry says as he stretches a hand to Nora. "Oliver, this is Nora, my daughter."

Oliver narrows one of his eyes and points at Nora. "You're from the future too?"

"Yeah," Nora answers shyly. "Uh, William has told me a lot about you, Mr. Queen."

Oliver looks to William for confirmation.

"It's true," William answers.

"Wait," Nora interjects. "Why did you think I wouldn't recognize you two?"

"Well…" Barry says, but hesitates to answer. He probably doesn't know where to begin or if Nora will believe them. "Uh…"

"Show her," William says to Oliver.

Oliver, making use of his newfound abilities, raises his hand and causes it to phase.

Nora's jaw drops. "Whoa! You guys switched powers?"

"No," William answers as he walks to Oliver's side. "They switched realities."

"Realities?" Nora repeats. After a few seconds, she smiles in amazement. "Oh, that is so schway!"

Oliver leans towards William's ear and whispers, "Schway?"

"It's future slang. I don't know how it caught on."

"Did you tell Mom and the others?"

"We did," Barry answers. "But…they locked us up in the pipeline afterwards."

Nora's smile quickly fades. "Okay. That is NOT Schway."

"No, it's not." Barry then pauses for a moment and raises an eyebrow. "Wait. How can you recognize us? Actually, where were you?"

"Oh," Nora says with a bit of a defensive tone, as if caught off guard by the question. "I, uh, kinda went back to 2040. Nothing major! I just had to wrap up some unfinished business."

From how quick she talked and the way she did not meet her father's gaze, William, maybe even Oliver, can tell something wasn't right. But it is of no consequence right now. What mattered was an implication she made.

"So, you were in the Speed force for the majority of the time?"

"That's right," Nora confirms.

William thinks on this for a minute before hypothesizing, "I always theorized that the Speed Force was connected to time, but maybe not with reality on a certain scale. Maybe it shielded you from the changes while traveling back and forth between time."

"Probably," Nora guesses. "So wait. What are you going to do now?"

"We're escaping to Earth 38," William answers. "We know someone who can give us refuge and these two training."

"Well, then let me come with you. I can help."

"Not on Earth 38," William insists as he walks towards her. "But there is another way. You know where the Bunker in Star City is?"

Nora nods. "Yeah. I do."

"Good. Go there and find Felicity and the others. Tell them what happened. They're our best bet to figure out what's going on."

"Right. I'll head there now." She turns around and is about to run. But then she hesitates for a moment before saying, "But first…"

Nora dashes out of the room and is back within a second. She holds up her hand, which has another breach beacon, which Flash and his team call an extrapolator.

"Now they can't follow you," she says with a smirk.

"What was that gust of wind?!" Cisco's voice cries out.

"Go! quick!" William exclaims.

"Okay. I'll come get you when things cool down."

William nods before turning around.

"And guys?" Nora calls out before William can activate his breach beacon. "Be careful."

"Nora?!" Iris' voice echoes down the hall. "Is that you?!"

"Go!" William orders. This time, Nora runs out and does not come back.

William then turns around again and presses the button on the breach beacon. The blue portal activates the breach beacon he has set on Earth 38.

"Guys!" Cisco's voice emanates again. "I'm hearing a breach! Down here!"

William runs to the portal while shouting, "Go! Go!"

Without a moment more to waste, Barry and Oliver follow suit, going through the breach and escaping from Star Labs.


	6. Chapter 5: Earth 38

**Author's notes:** Hello Readers! Sorry that this chapter took longer than expected. I have been really busy with other stuff. But I have a clearer schedule now, which means that chapters should be back to releasing sooner rather than later. Thank you for your patience.

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Based on characters and references created by the CW and DC Universe, which I do not own. Enjoy!

* * *

"Nearly there. Almost…"

As soon as William hears the click of the part being screwed in tightly, he quickly crawls out and gives Clark Kent a thumbs up.

"Good job Will," Clark says as he gently puts the car down. He takes out the car keys and heads to the driver's side. "Now, let's see how we did."

Clark opens the car door, inserts the key into the ignition, and starts up the engine. The first try is only whining start up noises but does not proceed any further than that. The second time, however, the engine finally gives a loud roar, followed by repeating, subtle sputters. The exhaust can be faintly seen from the tailpipe, disappearing and dissipating in the air.

Clark chuckles and pats William on the shoulder. "You see that? And it only took us about half an hour."

"It felt like an eternity after all the other chores I had to do," William admits.

"You'll get used to it."

"Well, well," Lois' voice echoes to their right. They turn and see her looking at the car with a smile. Next to her is Kara with a couple of beer bottles in her hands, looking at the car the same way.

Lois nods approvingly. "You boys have done a good job on this thing."

"Nothing a little elbow grease doesn't solve," Clark responds. He then takes his hand off William's shoulder and points to the toolbox. "Will, you can take these into the barn then you can take a break. You remember where they go?"

"Yeah," William says as he picks up the toolbox and walks through the large entrance into the barn.

As William makes his way to the ladder, Clark calls out, "Be careful when heading up! The ladder's pretty old!"

"Got it!" William says without turning back to face him.

Clark watches as William climbs up, in case the ladder somehow gives way. Luckily, William makes it, unharmed, and disappears from sight.

"The young guy is really starting to become a helping hand," Lois says as she walks next to Clark, taking his hand into hers.

Clark turns his head to her and nods. "He sure is. I'm glad Bruce sent him our way for the weekend."

Kara then comes slightly into view, holding up a beer bottle to Clark. "Here boss."

Clark smirks and takes the bottle. "Thanks."

The two of them and Lois take their seats in the back of the small, red truck. Kara, sitting across from them, takes a big sip of her beer, almost chugging it down. Clark guesses that she is trying to get her mind off of something and is afraid that he knows what it is.

Clark's attention then turns to Lois, who doesn't even have a bottle of water. "Do you need anything hon?" He asks her out of concern. "I can get you some water if—"

"No, no," Lois insists. "I had something a little while ago. Well, more than something."

Clark couldn't help but subtly smirk, knowing that Lois is talking about her habits ever since the news. The news they have been wanting to tell Kara. And it seems like now is a better time than any.

"So, guys," Kara starts, delaying the news. "I have been dying to ask: How was Argo?"

"Spectacular!" Lois answered joyously. "I got to see the CROWN JEWEL mountains and…ENDURE the ENDLESS deliberations of the High Council." Lois says this in an exhaustive tone while rolling her eyes. Kara can't help but snicker. But Lois continues with a wide grin, "But what I saw is worthy of a story. Something that can get me into the history books. Not to mention I am the first human in history to even see it."

"Then you'll be the most famous, fierce, and feared reporter of two planets," Clark jokes as he puts an arm around Lois. "But yeah. Seeing home again, even a fraction of it…it was the greatest thing I ever got to do." He then turns to Lois with a smile. "Even better that I saw it with you."

Clark plants a kiss on Lois' forehead, receiving a flattering smile from her in return. Kara takes another gulp from her beer, nearly finishing it off. Not even he drinks his beer that quickly, even if it doesn't have the same effect on him as on humans. Even though he wanted to tell Kara the news, he knew he had to ask.

"How about you Kara? I know you've been through a rough patch."

The smile Kara had after drinking fades, her eyes turning away from them for a moment. "I'm fine, it's just…" Kara takes a deep breath and places her bottle on the truck floor. "The only time I have ever been challenged like that was by Ms. Grant. And my friends knowing my identity is one thing, but telling the President of the United States, who would tell the entire world…" Kara slowly brings her eyes up to them at last. "Did I do the right thing by not revealing myself? I mean I lost my job at the DEO, the trust of the people—"

"Kara," Clark begins to assure her. "Of course, you did." He takes out his glasses from his pocket and shows them to Kara. "Our secret identities keep the ones we love safe. Nothing else is more important than that." Clark then places a hand on Kara's shoulder. "And there is still plenty you can do as Supergirl, even without the DEO. I promise you tha—"

Suddenly, a loud whooshing sound is heard. They turn around and see nothing except the inside of the barn, still filled with straws of hay and the ladder, still intact.

_Was that William?_ Clark wonders.

"I know that sound," Kara says. "Can that be?" Without a word, Kara runs over to see what exactly is happening. Clark and Lois follow suit, hoping that it is not a sign of danger.

* * *

William places the toolbox on the table in the corner and sits down for a minute to catch his breath. He leans his head back against the wooden wall, closes his eyes, and sighs.

_Why Bruce sent me here for a whole weekend, I'll never know. Did Connor have to go through this with the whole "you have to learn about working hard" excuse? Or did he make this up as an excuse to be alone with Talia? Not that it's a bad thing, since he's been more relaxed since she moved in and I've moved on from the fact that she helped kidnap my mom. But why can't I work hard at programming, martial arts, or the other stuff I should be doing instead of this? At the very least, I should be learning more about Catholicism. _

William then reaches into his pocket and takes out his hozen, which never leaves his side. Well, that and the bible Bruce gave him, but it's too big to fit into his pocket. It's basically the only thing that is helping him persist through all of this. The knowledge that one day, he will become a superhero. He will be the one to save the day. He will be able to take care of himself and save everyone he cares about. To truly reconnect with them as Connor did.

_I just hope that I'll still get to see Dad, Felicity, and Connor sometime so—_

Suddenly, a familiar sound echoes all over the barn. A whooshing sound. He looks up, seeing one of those breach portals he has been through before a couple of times. He then begins to smile.

_Is that?!_

* * *

William, Barry, and Oliver run through the breach, running through a cosmic vortex that feels like it could stretch through infinity. Yet, somehow, they are out of Star Labs and in another area in seconds, the breach closing in the same amount of time.

As soon as they are through, Oliver and Barry look at their surroundings, which are vastly different from Star Labs. The floor and walls are made of wood, as are the floors above them. Below them are strands of hay covering soft, padded dirt.

"I don't recognize this place," Barry admits.

"I do," William says, looking unphased. "We're at the Kent farm."

Oliver looks at William with a raised eyebrow. "How do you know—"

"Dad! Connor!" A younger, yet familiar voice cries out. Oliver turns around and sees William, the Younger William, a face whose presence makes him smile, runs towards him.

"William!?"

Both of them hug, filling Oliver with a joy he hasn't felt in days. An empty hole he felt since Younger William left to be with whoever his guardian is.

"Oh, bud! It's so good to see you! How are y—" Oliver pulls away but keeps his hands on William's shoulders. He realizes that Younger William has hugged him and not Barry, making his smile even wider. "You recognize who I am!"

"Well, yeah," Younger William says in a slightly uncertain tone. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, we just confirmed your theory," Older William points out to Barry.

"Guys?!" Another familiar voice calls out. This time, a feminine one. Oliver, both Williams, and Barry look down and see their blonde haired, Kryptonian friend, Kara Danvers, sporting a red shirt and jacket, brown pants, and the fake glasses that usually hide her identity. Somehow.

"Kara!" Barry calls out in Glee. He jumps down from the first floor and hugs Kara. "It's so good to see you."

"You too," Kara responds affectionately. "I missed you guys."

Oliver and both Williams follow suit as Barry and Kara broke off the hug. Kara looked like she was going to say hi to Oliver, but her eyes lay on Older William. "And who is our new friend here?" She asks, a slow smile forming on her lips that makes Oliver slightly uncomfortable.

"Oh, he's me," Younger William quickly says.

"From the future," Older William finishes.

Her smile slowly fades into a wide-eyed stare. She looks back and forth from future William and Oliver, who is now a bit at ease, but maintains a glare.

"Oh," she says in an unnerving, almost apologetic tone.

"William?" Yet another voice calls out. However, Oliver, and probably Barry, who flinches a bit, do not recognize this one. They look to where it came from, seeing a man in his thirties with short black hair, wearing a blue jacket with a white fur collar, jeans, and glasses. Standing beside him is a woman about the same age as him with brown hair, a tan jacket similar to Oliver's, skinny jeans, and a red and white bandana around her neck. Both look at Older William with narrowed eyes.

Older William does not hesitate to walk to them. "Clark. Ms. Lane."

As Older William shakes hands with the man and probably explaining everything, Barry leans a bit closer towards Kara and asks, almost with glee, "Wait. That's your cousin Clark? Superman?!"

"You know it," Kara answers, smiling back as if forgetting what happened just a few seconds ago.

"Wait," Younger William interrupts. "Dad, why were you surprised that I recognized you?"

Oliver, realizing that he hasn't explained anything to him or Kara, says, "Oh! Right." He quickly raises his hand, which phases on command.

Kara and Younger William look at Oliver's new talent with slightly dropped jaws and wide-eyed stares.

"Okay," Kara says in an uncertain tone. "That is…new."

"And awesome!" Younger William exclaims with a wide grin.

"And why we came here," Older William, who turns away from Clark for a moment, explains. "We need your help."

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen of the DEO," J'onn J'onzz begins in front of the large crowd of DEO employees, looking up at him like someone would look at a General prepping his army to go to battle. "I know that some of us are still shaken by events this past week. The abrupt leave of Supergirl has left a hole in many of us. I know that I miss her dearly."

He sees the looks on everyone's faces. Some of them maintain attention, others shift their eyes to the floor or bow their heads, breathing sighs of anguish. Alex, who is next to J'onn, clenches her fist behind her back and snarls subtly.

J'onn knows that "abrupt" is putting it lightly. President Baker demanded Supergirl's identity and fired her for defying that order. The real word he wanted to use was "unnecessary," or "foolish" on Baker's part. But J'onn and many others knew that Baker had his reasons. Besides, this meeting was to improve morale, not spread panic.

"But we must continue to fight on in her absence," J'onn continues. "We must protect the Earth from those who would threaten it. That is why for years, with the help of IVO Labs in Central City, we have created the ULTIMATE line of defense." J'onn steps aside and Alex goes over to the structure covered in a white sheet. "My friends, I give to you…Amazo!"

Alex pulls down the sheet, revealing the robot that is taller and bigger than any of them. They all marvel at the machine with its silver exoskeleton and protective white plates on the arms, shoulders, legs and chest. The face is like that of a man's, but the eyes and mouth are darkened, at least until it turns on.

"This robot is capable of copying the powers of any being, human or alien, and turning those powers against them," J'onn explains. "With this machine, we can combat ANY threat that comes our way. After some testing, of course. I, for one, am ECSTATIC to see it in action. And I hope many of you are as well."

* * *

He looks at the machine from his vantage point across from the DEO. What was to become an insignificant machine shall now become the catalyst of the Chosen's upcoming test.

He smirks and silently says, "That I am."

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Thank you for reading. I just wanted to give a bit of a disclaimer here. "Supergirl" is the one CW superhero show I do not really watch much of except for the crossover episodes. So, what I am writing here is based upon what I have seen in the crossover episodes and some research I have done to try and stay true to the characters and story arcs as possible, with some changes to fit my vision. If you have seen any inaccuracies to the characters in this chapter, that is why. But don't be afraid to point them out in reviews so I can take notes for future chapters. Again, thank you for reading and have a great day!


	7. Chapter 6: Back to Basics

**Disclaimer:** Based on characters and references created by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!

* * *

"Switched realities?!" Kara exclaims, leaning further in her living room chair in between Lois' and Clark's.

"We know it's hard for you to believe," Older William, who stands between the seats across from them that are occupied by Barry and Oliver, says.

"And you said you've been having visions?" Clark asks.

William nods. "One of them was our friend telling us to come here and train these two for some upcoming threat." William gestures to Oliver and Barry.

"Well, do we know who would do such a thing?" Lois asks. "Why these…visions are happening to you or what's causing all of this?"

"That's…" He holds his tongue for a moment, thinking of a way to phrase it without lying. Not just in front of his father, but also in front of Clark, who can detect vital signs. "…still a case in progress."

"Here." Younger William, who just came from the small kitchen, hands Barry a coffee with some cream and two sugars, as requested. He then hands Oliver the other with Half-n-Half and with a special Kryptonian or, in this case, speedster sugar that equates to over 1,000 calories.

"Thanks bud," Oliver says with a smile as he takes the coffee.

"I think I know what we're dealing with," Clark says. "William, you said that one of the men was holding a book. One that was expelling a lot of energy from its pages."

"That's right," Older William confirms.

"Well, I only know of one artifact that can alter reality so easily. The Book of Destiny."

Everyone raises an eyebrow except for Lois, who presses her elbows to her sides and bites her lip.

"Book of Destiny?" Both Williams repeat.

Clark nods. "It's an ancient artifact, said to be made by God when he was creating time and space. In it, he wrote every single event that was, is, and could be. It contained every single possible event in the multiverse. The last person who used it here switched his life with mine. I even had to do the unthinkable and work with Lex Luthor to take him down."

Barry and Oliver look at Clark with a frown or narrowed eyes, for they do not know who that is.

"Bad guy," both Kara and Older William say.

Oliver and Barry then nod with acknowledgement. However, Kara's cheeks flush and she shifts her eyes away from the group. Older William doesn't know whether it was awkwardness or the fear of evoking his father's rage. Most likely both.

"There's…a price, though," Clark says, his voice and lips trembling a bit. "He was too weak minded to handle its power. By the time we got the book away from him, it had driven him nearly insane. Even when trying to set things right, it almost did the same to me." Lois takes Clark's hand, helping him calm down a bit. He takes a deep breath before continuing, "To prevent anyone else, including Luthor, from using it, I sealed it away in the Phantom Zone, with extra precautions. I don't know how anyone could get their hands on it in there."

_He probably knows the ins and outs of the place_ Older William thought.

"Then we need to act fast," Oliver suggests. "Barry and I need to learn how to use each other's powers, prepare for whatever it is Shazam tried to warn William about."

"Sounds like a plan," Clark agrees, clapping his hands and standing up. "And I'll be more than happy to help you with mastering Super Speed Oliver."

Younger William turns to Barry. "And we can get—"

"ME…to train you Barry," Older William interrupts. "You go out to the barn and get your equipment ready. I need to have a word with Will here."

Older William guides his younger self out of the living room and into the small kitchen area. He can feel the stares of Barry and Oliver on his back, confused as to what happened. He looks back, seeing them along with the others heading outside, giving both him and younger him the room alone.

As they enter the small island kitchen bordered by a countertop shaped like a C, Younger William asks "Connor, what the heck?". Older William sometimes forgets that his younger self now calls him that to help differentiate them both. "We can get Bruce over here and have him train Barry."

"I know that, but…" Older William breathes a quick sigh. "There's a reason Bruce left Earth 1 and came here. He wanted no one to find him. And he made me swear an oath of secrecy before I left. Something I intend to uphold."

"Well, they can keep secrets too," Younger William argues. "Barry, Dad. They don't have to mention a thing."

"Bruce wouldn't take that chance," Older William refutes. "I am more than capable of training Barry. Trust me. Okay?"

Younger William, after a short pause, nods.

"Good," Older William says. "Now, let's go. Can't keep the others waiting."

As they leave the kitchen and head out of the house, Older William echoes a thought that his younger self is thinking as well: _I hope I'm right._

* * *

Barry, once again, falls flat on the grass when Older William, once again, manages to grab and throw him. Barry groans and clutches his hip. Though the grassy ground of the field is soft enough, he still feels the sting of bruises on his body that the speed force would usually heal instantly.

"Again," Older William says.

Barry nods, takes his escrima sticks, and slowly gets up. He sees the sympathetic stares of Kara, Lois, and Younger William, who spectate their sparring lesson. He gets into the position taught to him about half an hour ago, the escrima stick in his left hand in front of him, and the stick in his right chambered just above his shoulder.

As soon as they engaged, Barry repeats the pattern of strikes in his head as he does them. _Backhand, forehand, backhand, forehand, backhand, and forehand TO THE SHIN!_

Barry swings wildly at Older William's shin, who jumps above it and onto Barry. He then uses his momentum to roll them both to the ground. After what felt like spinning in a chair, Barry finds Older William on top of him with an escrima stick to his neck and one knee on his stomach. His other leg posts on the ground, keeping his posture firm.

"You still have the mindset of a speedster," William says as he gets up, keeping the stick to Barry's neck. "If you don't set it aside, you'll never improve."

Older William offers Barry a hand, which he immediately takes because his body does not feel like getting up on its own.

"Can't we just…take it easy?" Barry asks, short of breath.

"I took it easy on you about half an hour ago," Older William says. "And our enemy will never take it easy on you, especially one who can change reality. You need to know at least the basics before taking him on."

"I know. I know. But…" Barry lifts his hands up as much as his body will let him. "Why can't I rely on my fists? I know some boxing, at least."

"And the Green Arrow knows a variety of martial arts," William explains. "And at this moment, you're the Green Arrow. All that knowledge and experience Dad had is in there somewhere, we just have to find out how to awaken it. Now, we can go slowly just a couple more times. But after that, we need to go back to normal speed. Again."

Barry looks over to the other side of the field, seeing Oliver and Clark racing near the barn, and takes a deep breath. _This is going to take all day. But at least I'm not alone in figuring out my new powers._ He picks up the escrima sticks and gets back into position quickly before they spar once more.

* * *

They run all over the field, reaching every flag set out for them by Lois. Like the first two times, Oliver has been ten steps behind, and like the last two races, Clark is the victor, being the first to run through the barn after collecting all the flags.

Clark, seeing that Oliver has not followed him in, looks at his watch and counts, "three, two, one…"

On time, Oliver runs past Clark, just stopping at the picket fence outside the house. Clark can't help but shine an amused grin, seeing Oliver look as if almost tripping on himself, which is still an improvement from when he actually did the first two times.

_At least he's learning to stop._

Oliver looks over to Clark, breathing a bit heavily. "You stopped running," was his excuse.

"Or you overshot," Clark corrects.

Oliver breathes a heavy sigh and walks over to Clark, complaining, "What is the point in racing? There are more practical ways in preparing for a threat. I can get some combat training."

"And that can take days or weeks," Clark argues. "This is the fastest way you are ever going to learn how to control your speed."

"Then why on a farm? Why not a training center with equipment?"

Clark looks up at the sky for a moment, trying to remember the right memory to tell Oliver, to help him understand how much this farm helped him. He discovered many of his powers here when he was a kid, all of them culminating in one important lesson, which prepared him for what he would become. After looking out at the field, one memory came to mind. One that made him smirk, but also filled him with dread.

"When I was a kid," Clark began, pointing towards the field. "Pa and I were playing catch. He threw one over me, and I ran. Ran faster than a speeding bullet. I couldn't stop myself for a while, had no control. Next thing I knew, when I did stop…" Clark turns to the far area to his right with a distant stare. "I was ten miles away from home, afraid of running, even of walking. It took my folks all night to find me." He then turns back to Oliver with a gleam in his eyes. "The next day, Pa brought me out and told me to run. Run as fast as I can TOWARDS them. Gradually, I learned how to stop, how to control how fast I ran. I began doing similar things with all the other powers I discovered."

Oliver crosses his arms and tilts his head a bit. "Are you saying I should be doing something to focus my powers."

Clark shakes his head. "I'm saying that when you run or do any power, you should focus on what matters to you. Always keep someone or something in your mind because it doesn't just help you improve. It's the reason you even run in the first place. The reason you are a hero."

Oliver doesn't say anything for a while, looking at the ground. Maybe he's thinking about what matters to him the most in the world. At least, that's what Clark hopes.

After a while, Oliver lifts his head up and says, "Can we go again?"

Clark smirks. "Of course."

* * *

Barry lets loose another concussion arrow, which hits the top can accurately. The can flies off the stack of cans supporting it, landing silently on the grass. Barry smirks, for this is the third time in a row he hit something. The first five have been hitting nothing but the air next to it or scathing it as he adjusted his aim.

"Very good," Older William says. "Reset!"

Kara zips in quickly and sets the paint can back on top of the other ones.

William hands another arrow to Barry. This time, an arrow with sharp tip. "Now, with this arrow, you will want to aim at the shoulder." Older William points to one of the two cans that is between the three cans supporting them and the top can they are holding up. "Aim for the right can on the second row."

"Got it," Barry acknowledges.

He takes a deep breath before placing the arrow on the bow and drawing it back on the string. He takes his time to aim at the paint can and then inhales to steady his shot. He lets the arrow fly and hit the target, taking the top paint can down with it.

"Yes!" Barry exhales, raising his fist in the air. "Three in a row!"

"Well done," Older William says. "But taking time to aim at a stationary target is one thing. Learning to do so quickly at a moving target, and possibly multiple targets, is another." He then pats Barry on the back. "But you're off to a good start."

Just then, Clark and Oliver stop by, both of them stopping almost in synch, with Oliver stopping just half a second after Clark. Oliver is hunching down, breathing a bit heavily. But Clark looks fine, standing straight and lets out a calm, controlled and satisfied breath. He gives Oliver a pat on the shoulder and lets him catch his breath before they walk over to the others.

"How's Dad progressing?" Older William asks.

"He's certainly gaining more control of his speed," Clark answers. "His ability to stop along with me is improving. But he still has a long way to go."

"I'm getting the hang of it," Oliver insists. "I just don't know if it's enough to face an emerging threat that can happen at any time."

Barry smirks sinisterly. _Oh, it's time._ "You know what?" Barry says as Oliver stops just a couple feet ahead of them. "I have an idea." Barry points to the far corner of the field. "You run over there, come back at me, and I'll try to hit you with an arrow."

Oliver is about to say something, but then closes his mouth after a few seconds. It then forms a fake smile as Oliver glares and subtly scoffs at Barry. "Okay. Where did you hide the remote-controlled bows?"

Barry flashes a fake smile of his own, saying in a mostly assuring, but subtly sarcastic tone, "Dude. Come on, I'm not you."

Everyone raises an eyebrow or looks at the ground to find what both of them are talking about.

"Um, remote-controlled bows?" Older William asks, tilting his head.

Oliver raises a dismissive hand. "Just…forget about it. Let's get it over with."

Oliver runs over to the corner Barry pointed at a moment ago and is there in just a second. He yells out, "Ready!"

Before taking aim, Barry gives Older William a smirk and a thumbs up with his hand close to his side. William only nods in response. He then raises the bow and draws the arrow and string back. "Here we go."

Remembering how he caught the arrow, Barry waits for Oliver start running. As soon as he does, Barry shoots immediately, knowing that Oliver will catch it at the speed he is moving. And he does, stopping at the same place he was at before.

Oliver relaxes and scoffs playfully. "Nice try—"

On cue, the arrows from the remote-controlled bows in the bushes fire into Oliver's back. He screams in pain, followed by agonizing groans. Barry, in contrast, begins to laugh almost hysterically, hopping up and down like a kid on a trampoline.

"Oh, I've waited four years for that, man!" Barry exclaims. Seeing Oliver turn around, probably anticipating someone to pull the arrows out of his back, reminds Barry of what he wanted to do next. "Hold on. I gotta take a photo of this."

"Wait, WHAT?!" Oliver screams out as Barry takes out his phone and snaps the photo quickly before running over to him.

"Okay, okay. Hold still."

Barry pulls the arrows out of Oliver quickly, who screams and grunts in pain one last time before turning back around. He opens his mouth, ready to yell at Barry, who is ready to take it. Instead, he stops short, looking past Barry and at Older William, who has his fist over his mouth, his head bent low, and his eyes almost squeezed shut.

"William!" Oliver yells. "Did you know Barry was planning this and let it happen?!"

"No!" Older William refutes, trying to keep himself from laughing. But he can't resist. "I helped him set up the bows." Both he and Barry laugh even harder, giving each other a high five to what they believed was a prank well executed.

But not to Oliver. "You think this is funny?! You think my abilities are some sort of joke?!"

"Dad," William starts to say as he settles down a bit. "Relax. There's nothing wrong with having a little fun while training. Besides, you heal fast."

"Stay out of this William!" Oliver commands. William takes a couple steps back, his smile fading a bit.

"Oliver," Barry joins in. "We were just having fun."

"I shot you before to teach you how to case an environment. Not to 'have fun' or get a laugh off!"

"Dad," William interrupts, this time his voice and stare more serious than assuring. "Calm down."

Oliver's nostrils flair, his breathing somewhat harsh as he glares at Barry. He then walks up closer to Barry and points at his own face, saying "Hit me."

Barry takes a couple of steps back, his eyes growing wide. "Wait, what?"

"Come at me! Try to get at least ONE hit in."

"Deck him Barry!" Lois, who is sitting next to Younger William, yells. All of them look at her with curious looks, but Older William looks at her with a glare of frustration.

Lois shrinks back, but whispers not so silently to Younger William, "I'm sorry Will, but your father's a bit of a jerk."

"Yeah, yeah. I know," Younger William responds in a rushed and harsh tone, trying to save her from Oliver's rage.

"Well?" Oliver asks Barry, seemingly ignoring Lois' comment. "Are you coming at me or what?"

"No," Barry refuses. "I'm not doing it. This isn't how I train."

"Oh really?! You train?! I thought your powers just came from the sky!"

"Dad, just drop it," Older William pleads.

"Need a peanut gallery? Can you not do anything without your wife in your ear?"

"Are you serious, man? Felicity invented quarterbacking!"

"I don't think that you can make it through more than nine hours without some…SAPPY motivational speech!"

"Dad, I said drop it!"

Barry walks away, but Oliver is not done. "Your team betrayed you! You needed them, and they weren't there!"

William, instead of walking towards Oliver, steps away as he says, "Dad, that is enough!"

Barry quickly turns around to say, "I'm not doing this!"

As Barry walks away again, he hears the crackling of electricity, usually a warning when super speed is about to be used. Barry turns around quickly, reaching into his quiver for a concussion arrow to knock him out. However, as he sees the blinding silhouette of Oliver coming at him, William is also there, leaning down and tripping Oliver over him and onto the grass.

_He planned for that. William actually planned for that._

Barry can see the glare on Older William's face as Oliver gets up. When seeing it himself, Oliver doesn't try to stand up nor does he get upset at him. All that can be seen on him is a blank stare.

"W-William, I—"

Older William raises a hand, stopping Oliver from finishing his apology. "If you had master even HALF of Barry's speed…I wouldn't have laid a finger on you."

The subtle tone of disappointment must have been enough to make Oliver regret what he has done, for he doesn't rebuke that fact. But Older William doesn't seem to care. He just walks away.

"William. William, wait!" is the last thing Oliver pleads to Older William. But he just keeps walking.

Older William's glare is like that of Oliver's, but Barry knows that kind of glare. He's seen it from Joe when he was disappointed in him. He even had a similar glare when he was disappointed in Nora. But now the roles have reversed, the son being disappointed in the father.


	8. Chapter 7: Mysteries Unraveled

**Disclaimer: **Based on characters and references created by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!

* * *

Iris stares at her wedding ring, seeing the faint reflection of herself. She can almost make out the weariness on her face, the furrowed brows that are part of her disappointed stare. Disappointment in herself.

She hears footsteps behind her, but she does not turn around.

"We checked for any sign of Nora," Cisco's voice echos in the small lab. "She's no longer in Central City."

"Fine," Iris says in a flat tone.

After a while, she can hear Cisco walking around to her side. She can partially see him from the corner of her eye. "Are you alright?"

"Sure."

"Is this about Barry, Oliver, and William escaping? We're going to find—"

"What if we shouldn't?" Iris asks, looking up to meet Cisco's gaze. "What if that's the right decision? You know how well it went for Oliver last year when he spied on his team. When he didn't trust them."

"We made the decision together."

"And we're still uncertain about what's going on!" Iris shoots up from her seat. "I mean, we weren't even sure if what we did was right! Now they're who knows where because we can't trace a extrapolator that's not our own. And Nora…" Iris bows her head, places a hand on the table next to her, and sighs. "Nora has defied me before because she was angry. But now she and I have been getting along, understanding each other better. I refuse to believe that she would just take the extrapolator and run without good reason."

Cisco raises an eyebrow. "You think that Nora believes what the three of them said to us?"

Iris looks up to him again and shakes her head. "I think she knows that it's the truth. She acted impulsively before, but she loves her father as much as she loves me, if not more. I think she wouldn't help them if she couldn't see any truth in her father's words."

Cisco shrugs his shoulders. "Well, even so, where would she—"

"Um, guys," Ralph calls from the doorway, his tone a bit shaky. "Nora's back…with company."

Ralph moves away, revealing Nora standing next to Felicity, who shoots a glare as soon as she sees them. Along with them are John Diggle and Mia Queen, Oliver and Felicity's daughter from the future, who also shoot glares at them.

Iris' eyes grow wide at this unpleasant surprise, her lips parted.

Cisco echoes her sentiment with a silent, "oh…crap."

* * *

"You locked them up in the pipeline!" Felicity shouts at Iris.

"We had to get control over the situation." Iris tries to assure.

"By locking them in the pipeline?!"

"Look!" Cisco chimes in. "I admit that we messed up and we regret what we did. But we couldn't risk the chance of something else happening."

"And you didn't think of checking the red-light clouds shooting yellow lightning from the sky?! It is literally right above you and you…"

Mia sees Nora, Barry and Iris' daughter, watch the conversation going on right in front her. Her teeth softly bite her lip, keeping a fist close to her face to cover it. Feeling like she should say something, Mia walks over to the cortex computer, where Nora is standing, and says, "If you're worried that this bickering is your fault, it's not."

Nora turns and nods. "I know. I just hate to see them fight like this, especially when there's a mystery to be solved."

Mia shrugs her shoulders. "Fair point. But your mom kind of deserve this, given she and the rest of your team locked both our fathers and my half-brother without reasonable cause. Right?"

When Mia turns back to Nora, her eyes are wide and her mouth is partially open, her finger and thumb lightly touching her chin. Her gaze is not focused at the group, as far as Mia can tell anyways.

Mia places a hand on her shoulder. "Nora?"

Nora turns to her, quickly asking, "Did they say red clouds and YELLOW lightning?"

"Uh, yeah," Mia confirms. "Why—"

Before she could ask, Nora speeds her way out of the room. The unexpected speed blows at Mia's hair and forces her to take a couple steps back. As the winds settle, she can no longer hear anyone arguing. She sees everyone looking at her direction with confused looks.

"Where did Nora go?" Iris asks.

A possible answer comes when an alarm starts to ring in the room. Not a very loud one, but it makes all of Team Arrow flinch.

"That's the alarm for the teleport room!" Cisco yells. "I think Nora is activating the machine!"

All of Team Flash runs out of the cortex, with Team Arrow following behind.

* * *

_If I'm right, this should also be the frequency that—_

"Nora!" Iris yells as Nora works on the teleport control panel. "What are you doing?!"

"Possibly getting us answers!" Nora answers as she finishes placing the frequency that matches the amount of red light in the sky. "Red sky with yellow lightning. Who else do we know that wears those same colors?"

"Flash," Caitlin answers. Nora looks up and sees everyone there and Caitlin looking at her with narrow eyes. "You think your father has something to do with this after all?"

"No," Nora responds while checking the calibrations. "I think A Flash has been trying to breach into our world for some time, but something is preventing him. If the red light is the frequency at which he is traveling, then I think I can bring him here."

"No, Nora!" Iris insists, putting a hand on Nora's arm. "Even if it is 'A Flash,' we don't know if he's friendly or not."

"If I'm wrong about the red light, nothing happens," Nora rebukes. "If you're right, then we'll be prepared. I know the risks, but this is possibly our only chance of finding out what's going on."

Iris looks at the machine for a moment, her face scrunching slightly. She then looks back at Nora. "Are you sure about this?"

"About 70%. But it's better than nothing."

After another brief pause, Iris lets go, letting Nora finish her work.

"Everyone, get ready!" John yells, pulling out his gun. This prompts Mia to get her bow and arrow out, Caitlin to become Killer Frost, and everyone else to get into ready stances. Iris and Felicity, meanwhile, retreat to the back for safety.

Nora presses the button to call a breach in. After a moment of nothing happening, a yellow bolt of lightning flashes on the teleport's platform, followed by a breach. Running out of it is, as Nora predicted, another Flash.

But when he stops and slowly lifts his head up, she does not see the face of Barry Allen. It was someone whose presence felt haunting to Nora. Her eyes, as well as everyone else's, grow wide. Her jaw is the only one that drops, while everyone looks at him as if it wasn't that much of a surprise.

_It…can't be!_

* * *

As William moves closer to the barn, he can hear Connor grunting over and over. The sound of rapid movement can also be heard. When he finally peers around the large entrance, he can see Connor, his hands wrapped in cloth, punching a small bag hanging from the floor above him. Seeing some hay missing from the floor, William can guess what the bag is full of.

"How often am I going to use hay filled bags to vent out my frustrations?" William asks.

Connor delivers one last punch that sends the bag flying back and forth on the rope. He catches his breath before saying, "When you're older…too often."

He grabs a clean dish towel and uses it to dry his face and hair. He picks up his jacket from the floor. "I know what you're going to say Will—"

"Let me say it anyway," Will pleads.

Connor, after a moment, nods.

William then says, "I have been angry at Dad before. For making myself believe that Mom's death was his fault when I always knew it wasn't. For not telling me he became the Green Arrow again. But I have always understood how…temperamental he could be. I knew that he wasn't the most patient of people and that he could make mistakes. I thought I would be used to that at your age, become patient with him. But the way you glared at him…"

Connor sits against the wall to their left, next to the table. He breathes a weary sigh before answering, "You're right. I am used to Dad's behavior. It's a lot like Bruce's. But…when I met Nora, when I discovered that she inherited Barry's Super Speed, she already had some training. Don't know from who, but…I wanted to help her the same way Dad helped Barry. Teaching her how to case an environment, being cautious and learning what you can before going into a dangerous situation."

"And it didn't end well?" William asks, judging from the increasingly upset tone of Connor's voice.

He nods. "She never approved of my training style. Bruce's training style. So, she left. I only ever encountered her again when I found out she was in 2018 Central City."

"That's how you managed to get Devoe's chair?"

"Yeah." Connor looks over at William with a focused stare. "The point is that Dad tried to push Barry when he shouldn't have. That's not how Barry operates. He's works better with positive reinforcement, like…" Connor's eyes grow wide and his jaw slightly drops. He looks away from William and to the floor. "Like Dad," he says, his eyebrows furrowing.

William becomes confused. _Dad showing positivity?_

"Hey Will," Kara's voice calls out from behind him. He looks back and sees her walking from the corner of the entrance. "Did you find—"

She stops dead when she sees Connor in his drenched T-shirt. In fact, she looks like she is almost gawking at his arms that are not as muscular as their dads are, but still strong looking. William can't help but give an amused smirk. Connor, however, maintains his focused stare.

Kara eventually shakes her head, quickly saying, "I'm sorry, I just didn't think you were—"

"What do you need Kara?" Connor asks quickly.

"She was bringing me here," A familiar voice calls from the barn entrance. Out of the corner comes the familiar, smartly dressed, and handsome yet rugged face of his guardian, Bruce Wayne.

Connor quickly stands up. "Bruce. What are you doing here?"

"Clark called me," Bruce answers. "He told me about your situation. And that you brought a couple people with you, one of which is your father."

Connor raises his hands up defensively. "I never told them anything about you, if that's why you came here."

"I never had any doubts about that." Bruce reaches into his pocket and takes out what looks like a few arrowheads with strings of yellow lights running from the tip to the bottom. A few of them diverge from the center line. "I just thought I should give you these as a precaution."

William recognizes what those are immediately. "Those are—"

"Power dampening arrowheads," Connor finishes. "But we wouldn't get those right for another few years."

"Well, after the explanation about the triple cube from younger you, I realized the type of algorithm needed to adapt to alien, meta, and magic sources."

William can see Connor smirk at him. "The triple cube, huh?"

"It just kind of inspired me," William says.

Bruce walks over and gives the three arrowheads to Connor. "These only shut down powers for a limited time and these are the only ones I could make in such a short notice. Use them wisely."

"Thanks," Connor says before taking them and putting them in his pocket. "I will."

"Good. I would help further, but there's trouble brewing in Gotham that requires my attention."

Connor nods. "Understood."

Before he can leave, Bruce places a hand on his shoulder. "But if you find that you need help, never hesitate to call."

Connor nods. "Will do, Bruce. Now, if you'll excuse me."

The three of them watch Connor run out of the barn in the direction of the house.

"Where is he going?" Kara asks.

William smirks. "I think he may have found an answer."

* * *

After a while of searching, Oliver finds Barry sitting on one of the handrails on the porch, his back supported by the beam behind him. Oliver walks up until he is at the fence.

"Hey," He says as casually as he can.

"Hey," Barry responds in a somber tone and he doesn't look towards him. Obviously, he is not over the argument they had. "If you're looking for Older Will, he's in the barn."

Oliver nods his head with closed eyes. He knows he needs to talk with Older William as well, which will be just as hard. "I know." He looks back up before continuing, "But I came here because… I owe you an apology."

Barry looks at Oliver with a surprised stare.

"I tried to push you and I shouldn't have. I was acting out of line. I'm sorry"

Barry doesn't say anything for a moment, just looking blankly at the handrail. "No," He says as he jumps down from the handrail and walks to Oliver. "I should apologize. You were right. You shot me before to help me and…I did it as a pitiful act of revenge. I should've taken things more seriously."

"Yes, you should've!"

Out of nowhere, they hear Older William's voice in the direction of the barn. They see him jogging from there, his jacket covering a drenched T-shirt.

But that didn't matter to Oliver. When Older William stops just close to him, he tries to say, "William. Look, about what happened at—"

Older William waves a dismissive hand. "Yeah, yeah. All is forgiven. But listen!" He starts beaming a wide smile. "I figured out why you guys are having trouble using each other's powers."

Both he and Oliver raise their eyebrows in response.

"We keep establishing that you guys switched realities, not powers. But we never asked to what extent. If you guys are each other, that means you also have not just each other's traits, but the mindset to use said traits." He points to Oliver. "Dad, when you fight, you channel your anger and darkness and turn it into a weapon. It gives you focus when you're using a bow and when fighting one on one."

Oliver nods his head in agreement. "You're right."

Older William then points to Barry. "And Barry. You're the opposite of that. You're compassionate, outgoing. You work better when in a positive mood."

Barry smirks and points out, "Like Oliver when he was laughing at my dislocated thumbs!"

"Exactly!" Older William confirms. "When you guys first developed your powers, you also created a mindset to base those powers on. These include emotion."

"Like when you told me to get out of a speedster's mindset?"

"Just like that. You guys need to be the opposite of what you usually—"

Suddenly, a familiar whooshing sound is heard not far from their position. Behind Older William is a breach, most likely from Earth 1. To them, knowing who has the transponder, it can mean only one thing.

However, instead of Nora, it is Cisco, waving to them and saying "Guys!"

Older William and Oliver turn to Barry quickly, but he is one step ahead of them. He vaults over the fence and aims a concussion arrow right at Cisco.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey!" Cisco yells as he puts his hands up. "Put the bow down!"

"How do we know you're not going to take us back in your meta prison?!" Older William yells.

Suddenly Nora shows up next, pushing up in front of Cisco. "Guys, wait! He believes you! They all believe you now!"

The three of them let out a sigh of relief. Barry lowers his bow and relaxes his arm.

"I told you to let me go first!" Nora whispers angrily at Cisco.

"Okay, okay," Cisco replies defensively. "Sorry. Lesson learned."

"So, you did it Nora?" William asks, just to be sure. "You convinced all of Team Flash?"

Nora shakes her head. "I didn't." Just then, one more person steps out of the breach. Someone Oliver and the others can barely see. "He did."

The man walks next to Nora, revealing himself to be an elderly gentleman in a suit similar to the Flash's. However, this suit is a darker shade of red and is made of a different fabric, something akin to Barry's first suit, instead of teflon.

"Hello gentlemen," The old man greeted, his voice sincere.

"Wait a minute," Barry says, walking up to the man with narrow eyes. "Jay Garrick?"

"No," the man responds, shaking his head.

The response makes Barry's eyes widen. "Oh my God. Dad?"

The man shakes his head again. "My name is Barry Allen."

Barry takes a couple of steps back, looking at the man claiming to be Barry Allen. Oliver realizes that it must be like the universe pulling some cruel joke. If he ever saw himself looking just like his own father, the image would haunt him too.

But it is something Oliver knows that they cannot dwell on. He asks, "You're from another Earth?"

Older Barry nods. "I am. From Earth 90, to be exact. Like you, my world was victim to the reality changes you are experiencing. And I know the person responsible."

Oliver takes a couple of steps forward and asks, "You know who's doing this?"

"I do. His name is Mar Novu. He calls himself the Monitor now. He has been unleashing the Book of Destiny upon the Multiverse. Your universe is the only one he hasn't touched."

"Why would 'Mar Novu' do this?" Barry asks.

Older Barry places his hands on his hips. "That's still a mystery to me. He somehow believes that events are conspiring for somebody important to arrive. Someone called the Chosen."

Barry and Oliver look at Older Barry with curious looks. Older William, however, just looks down at the ground, as if pondering something.

"Who is the Chosen?" Oliver asks.

Older Barry shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know. But what I do know is that I'm not going to let whoever Novu gave the Book to this time wreak anymore havoc."

Older William raises his head. that last line probably got his attention. "How do you know Novu did that?"

"Because that's what he did on my Earth. On every Earth. He never usually uses the book himself. He lets somebody else use it. Usually a psychopath that is left brain dead from being too weak minded. Earth 90 is barely recovering."

Older William nods his head after another brief pause of thinking. "Then we haven't got time to waste. We need to go back to Earth 1 and—"

"Guys!" Clark yells from the house, the door swinging open. "Get Kara! She needs to see this!"


	9. Chapter 8: Wrath of Amazo

**Disclaimer:** Based on characters and references created by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!

* * *

"Okay! Calibrations on Amazo are complete," The scientist from IVO labs says, examining the systems from his tablet. "We are ready for testing when you are."

J'onn nods in acknowledgment. He then looks down towards the small training room, where Alex, who has volunteered to fight Amazo, has just finished her stretching.

J'onn presses the intercom button and asks, "Are you ready Alex?"

Alex looks towards him and gives him a thumbs up. She then gets into her combat stance.

He turns to the scientist. "You may proceed."

"Got it," The scientist says. He then inputs Amazo's commands from the tablet as he says, "First test: defensive capabilities. Starting…now."

With one last press, Amazo's once blackened lines and eyes turn solid yellow. It raises its head, looking at Alex. Seconds later, the DEO's logo appears on its chest and then fades. Amazo takes up a combat stance mirroring Alex's and slowly approaches her. Almost cautiously.

When it is close enough, Alex throws out a jab, which Amazo deflects. She follows with a jab-cross combo, which is also deflected. She then goes for a hook on each side, which is blocked by helmet guard blocks. When she goes for a low kick, Amazo checks it. She then goes for a series of combos, increasing the number from three to four to five, using a series of punches, kicks, and faints. Every time, Amazo deflects, blocks, and checks every move, even predicting the faints. Finally, she tries to do a hook kick to the side. Amazo grabs it and then wraps its arms and interlocks its legs around it. It leans on the inside of the leg and then, in one quick motion, sweeps towards Alex. She moves backwards to get away but loses her balance. In a second, she falls to the ground. Amazo goes back into a fighting stance, not pressing the advantage.

Throughout the demonstration, his initial expectations of Amazo's capabilities were more than met. Its abilities make it seem impenetrable. But it has one weakness. Something that the laymen eye can't spot. Not even J'onn.

But Novu can.

"Astounding," Novu compliments aloud. It alarms the scientist and J'onn, who is quick to turn around and ready himself to fight. But that does not concern Novu, who continues, "You have demonstrated an excellent weapon for me to use."

"Who are you?!" J'onn asks.

"Someone who will take control of Amazo, hopefully without force."

"That will NEVER happen," J'onn yells as he begins to fly at him.

Novu simply opens a breach that sends him to the outside of the building, which gives him some time. He then walks up to the trembling scientist, extending his hand for the tablet that controls Amazo. The scientist quickly hands the tablet to him before darting out of the room, screaming for help as if anyone will react in time.

Novu, with the tablet, commands Amazo to incapacitate Alex. He observes as Amazo takes an unsuspecting Alex in a chokehold and throws her to the ground. Before she can try to get back up, Amazo hook punches her, knocking her out.

With the room clear, Novu breaches himself into the testing room just in front of Amazo. He then opens a breach next to him and reaches into it, bringing an adult Billy Batson out and onto his knees. In an instant, Amazo copies his powers, the lightning bolt symbol appearing momentarily on its chest.

He then closes the breach and types in a new command for Amazo, which says, _"New directive: Seek out all heroes and copy their powers while wreaking havoc on National City with minimal casualties."_

Amazo then flies out and breaks through the glass part of the ceiling. Seeing his mission accomplished, Novu opens another breach, leaving Billy Batson to struggle to futilely get out of his bonds in time.

"Let the test…begin."

* * *

Suddenly, J'onn finds himself outside the entrance to the DEO. He turns around to try and go back through that portal he went through, but it closes quickly. Thinking fast, he gets on the comm to Alex first to try and warn her about the man who snuck into the observation room.

"Alex, come in." No response. "Alex, do you read me?!" Still nothing. When that didn't work, he calls up the head of security as he runs to the doors. "I need all available guards at the—"

Before he can finish, he hears the distant sound of glass breaking above. He looks up, seeing a faint figure just coming out of the rooftop. He squints his eyes, able to see…

_Amazo?! But how? We didn't have any flying metas or aliens with us. Unless…he must've had one of his own that he brought over with that portal ability of his. Otherwise, Amazo would be using the same—_

Before he can think on it further, Amazo starts to fly away from the building and towards the center of National City.

_I'll think on it later. For now, I need to stop Amazo!_

Seeing no one in sight, he changes into his Martian form and flies off after him. He gets back on the comm and repeats, "I need all available guards at the training room! Agent Danvers may be down! Amazo has escaped and I am in pursuit!"

Seeing that Amazo has not spotted him yet, J'onn flies above it just enough so he can catch it at an angle. He then transforms into a large viper, lands on Amazo, and wraps himself around it. They start to fall, which is what J'onn hoped for.

_As soon as we're close to the ground, I'll change back and let Amazo take the brunt of the—_

Amazo seems to utter something, but J'onn does not know what. But the next thing he knows, a bolt of lightning hit them both, but only hurts J'onn. The pain becomes unbearable, forcing him to let go and fall to the street with a slam.

Still conscious, J'onn changes back quickly and gets up. He can see Amazo floating in the air, looking at him. Most likely, he has copied J'onn's powers. After another second, Amazo flies off again, this time shooting lightning from its hands at empty cars, bus stops, and other property that is devoid of life. People that are observing this panic and run to whatever they believe will give them shelter.

J'onn looks at the carnage with a glare, his fists clenched when seeing something created for good be used for evil. All because he let his guard down.

_I need to stop that thing before it starts to hurt innocents._

He flies back into the air and goes after it.

_But how am I supposed to fight something that can copy my every move?_

* * *

"**Our ongoing coverage of the unknown menace terrorizing National City shows that it is targeting only lightly populated areas at the moment, with only a couple of civilians and policemen wounded. Where it came from or why it is—"**

Kara looks at the TV coverage with a wide-eyed stare as some of the others are. They see what seems to be a robot shooting lightning out of its hands, destroying anything in its path. Any cop that tries to shoot it fails to because it somehow has the phasing abilities as J'onn. When they run out, they just flee, either by car if it hasn't been destroyed, or on foot if the explosions haven't injured them.

"How long has this been going on for?" Kara asks Clark, who has been next to her as she watched the broadcast.

"About half a minute," Clark answers with subtle concern in his voice. "But it's already halfway towards the city square."

"I know what that thing is," Older William says. "It's Amazo. A robot able to copy the powers of any being."

Kara turns to Older William and asks, "Did we fight this thing before?"

He shakes his head. "No. It was supposed to be scraped after initial testing, something about a certain meta's powers making it's matrix go haywire. But if that were the case, it would be killing people, not sparing them. And those powers look a lot like Shazam's."

"This must be Novu," Younger Barry suggests. "This must've been what Billy was trying to warn us about."

Kara looks back at the havoc happening on screen. So much property destroyed, yet very few people are wounded and no one dead. But when will that change? How long before one life is finally taken? Two? A hundred or a thousand? She wants assurance that the DEO are handling this. But Amazo demonstrated J'onn's powers. She must assume the worse.

She takes the remote and turns off the TV. "I need to get over there. I need to stop Amazo."

When she tries to walk away, Clark puts a hand on her shoulder. "Not alone, you're not. I'm going with you."

"And so are we," Older William says. "Billy wanted us to prepare for this moment."

"And you still are," Kara argues. "Barry and Oliver haven't mastered each other's powers."

"We at least know some basics," Oliver refutes. "Besides, we have the others from our Earth to help."

"Yeah, uh, just one other quick problem," Cisco interrupts. "How exactly do you stop a T-9000 that kills meta's for breakfast?"

"Well, something like that can't be more powerful than a Kryptonian," Clark suggests. "I just need to land one precise punch on the thing."

"Or you can turn it off," Younger William says. The phrase confuses everybody, but not Older William and Cisco. "Its brain is basically a computer. The manufacturer would have emergency shut off codes in case things went wrong, like in the previous timeline."

Most of the group share curious looks at Younger William's genius.

"I read a lot of computer software books," Older William clarifies. "And he is right. If anything, it's a fallback plan for if Amazo survives the encounter." He then takes out his breach beacon and hands it to Cisco. "Here. Take this. There's a beacon at the DEO and another connected to my suit. Get the codes and then get to my position. Take my younger self with you. He can be of help."

"Oh!" Kara exclaims. "In that case…" Kara zooms out of the house and is back in a second, handing what looks like an ID with a photo of her. "This is my old DEO ID. Tell them I sent you."

"The rest of us will go after Amazo," Oliver says. He takes out the miniature suit display case and holds it out for everyone else to see. He then places it on the floor and presses a button on the top of it. It enlarges until the Flash suit is fully shown. "Let's suit up."

* * *

Querl Drox, aka Braniac 5, rushes into the testing room, finding Alex on the floor, along with somebody in some red spandex tied up and gaged. He turns to the members of security and points to the man. "Untie him quickly."

They all do as they are told while he rushes to Alex's side. He kneels down and places a couple fingers to her neck. He feels a pulse.

_She is still alive. Good._

He then sees Alex's eyes slowly opening. He moves away a bit as to give her some space to get up.

"Alex?" He calls as she wakes up. "Alex, can you hear me?"

She groans and groggily asks "B…Brainy?"

"Yes," He answers with a smile. "Yes, it is me. Are you all right?"

She gets up while clutching her head and letting out another groan. "Sort of. What happened?"

"Novu!" The man in spandex says after a security guard removes the gag from his mouth. "Novu did this. He hijacked Amazo and is setting him lose on the city to test—"

Suddenly, a mysterious blue portal appears, with a nerdy looking man and a child coming out of it. The security guards all aim their guns at the new intruders, who put their hands up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait!" The nerdy man says, lowering his arm to take what looks like Kara Danvers' old ID from his pocket. "We're friends with Kara Danvers! We come in peace."

"Kara Danvers sent you?" Braniac 5 asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah she—" The boy stops as his eyes lay on the mystery man who he immediately identifies as, "Billy!"

"Will! Cisco!" Billy runs up to Will and Cisco as the last of his bonds are untied. The guards aim their guns at him, but Braniac 5 motions them to stand down.

"Man, it is good to see you guys!" His eyes fall upon the boy Braniac 5 presumes to be Will. "How are you here? You know what, never mind that. Where's your dad?"

"He and the others are out there trying to stop Amazo."

"Wait, wait, wait," Alex interrupts. "You know about Amazo?"

"Yeah," The nerd named Cisco answers. "That's why we're here. We have a solution to stop him, but we need his shutdown codes."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," the IVO scientist, who stands at the doorway, says. "The codes were on my tablet which that creepy guy…uh, forced me to give."

"Can you create them from scratch?" Will asks the scientist.

He rubs his chin. "I guess I can, but it took three of us to get it done in time."

"Well luckily, you've got yourself a couple more geniuses," Cisco boasts, patting Will on the shoulder.

"Make that three more," Braniac 5 points out as well before turning to the scientist. "What do you need?"

"Just a high-tech computer," The scientist says.

Braniac 5 nods before looking to Alex and the security forces. "Get Agent Danvers to the medic." He then walks to the doorway while saying, "The three of you, come with me quickly."

* * *

J'onn catches up to Amazo at the square, where it is shooting at and flipping over cars, but nothing more.

Believing that he has the element of surprise, he flies at Amazo at top speed. However, it seems that Amazo heard him, for it phases just as his punch connects to the back of its head. When he lands in front of it, J'onn starts to become aggressive, employing many punches and kicks to open up Amazo. But, true to its abilities, it counters most of them, but eventually opens up a little bit. When its face is open, he aims for it with a cross. However, Amazo increases his density, its skin hard enough to make J'onn flinch in pain. His regenerative powers heal the hand quickly, But before he could go back on the offensive, Amazo stretches its arm out, as J'onn can, and grabs him by the neck.

J'onn tries to think of any options get out of the grip. He could try to turn into a small or thin animal, but Amazo would expect that and shrink or enlarge its hand. Phasing may be an option, but Amazo can match his density and molecular structure if needed.

Escape is impossible. J'onn can do nothing but wait for Amazo to inevitably end his life or for some miracle to happen.

* * *

As they reach National City Square, they see the Martian, J'onn J'onnz, in Amazo's grip. Reacting quickly, Kara and Clark, dressed in their Supergirl and Superman personas, shoot heat vision from their eyes, which staggers the robot enough that he lets J'onn go.

Superman lowers the bike that Older William and Barry, now dressed as Red and Green Arrow, until it is safely on the ground.

Taking control, Red Arrow maneuvers the bike so that Barry can fire straight shots at Amazo's head. As they keep up the pressure, Older Flash, Oliver (The Flash) and Nora (XS) drop off Mia and Caitlin Snow (Frost) just halfway from Amazo's position, and Ralph Dibney (Elongated Man) closer to the robot.

"Keep firing," Red Arrow says over the comm. "Don't give it a chance to copy your powers."

All those with ranged attacks keep the pressure on Amazo. It keeps trying to swat everything away and tries to target them, but the speedsters running around keeps it confused. Eventually, the speedsters stop and throw bolts of produced electricity at it.

With Amazo fully distracted, Elongated Man takes the opportunity to stretch out his arms and pull its legs, forcing it to fall.

"Now!" Red Arrow yells.

On cue, Superman stops shooting heat vision and flies at Amazo. When he gets close enough, he shoots out his arm and punches Amazo into the ground, leaving a crater that may lead into the Earth's core, if they're lucky.

Red Arrow stops the bike, letting Barry get off first before he does and sets it down. They walk to the crater and look down, seeing nothing but pitch black.

"No way it's coming back after that," XS confidently says, looking down into the crater.

"J'onn!" Kara calls out. She runs to the Martian and places a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," J'onn answers with a smirk. "Good thing you and Superman arrived in time." He then points to the group of people gathering at the crater. "But…is that your friend, Barry Allen, wearing another suit while someone else is wearing his? And who are they?"

"They're friends. And the other thing is a LONG story. But listen. Did you see who was responsible for—"

"Astounding," A familiar voice compliments from a distance. They all turn towards where they all entered, seeing Mar Novu. He stands there with a smirk, his eyes on only one person. "You performed better than expected."

"Mar Novu, we take it?" Barry asks.

J'onn points to the man with a scowl. "You. You're the one who stole Amazo. You put it on this rampage!"

"I set him to do so with minimal casualties," Novu explains. "And I took him from you because it showed promise. Something in which to test the Chosen."

"A test?" Mia asks harshly. "All of this was to test us?"

"It was to test the Chosen's ability to lead heroes like you and adapt to developing situations, Mia Queen. And so far,…your brother has yet to disappoint."

All eyes and shocked expressions turn to Red Arrow, who just stares down Novu. Oliver looks back and forth between the both of them, obviously not believing what he is hearing.

"How…how is that possible? How can my son figure into your—"

"The Book of Destiny foretold this. A mortal hero from the future would come to the past and correct its mistakes. In doing so, events will transpire throughout the multiverse for the coming of someone powerful. Far more powerful than I. And only the Chosen can stop it."

"Enough!" Older Flash exclaims. "You will wreak no more havoc on the multiverse."

Novu smirks again. "I admire your persistence Barry. But you know as well as I do that all this is what God planned. Besides, this test is not yet over."

Before Red Arrow could ask, his gauntlet beeps. He looks and sees that his sensors are picking up some kind of seismic activity that is reaching surface and is gaining fast. But he knows that National City is not prone to Earthquakes.

"It's coming back," Red Arrow warns them. "Guys, Amazo's coming—"

But it's too late. Something ruptures behind them, the sheer force shocking them and forcing them to jump or roll away. Hovering above them is Amazo, who lands just in front of the first crater. When it does, various symbols appear on its chest, a few that Red Arrow recognize as the symbols for Superman, Supergirl, Flash, Green Arrow, etc.

"Oh crud," Red Arrow says with a disgruntled tone.

"We can still take him," XS says, running towards Amazo.

"XS, wait!"

XS, ignoring Red Arrow's warning, rushes in and lets loose a flurry of punches. But Amazo demonstrates its copying abilities by phasing through all of her attacks. As she tries to implement a right cross to the face, Amazo grabs her arm. She tries to phase free, but it counter phases her and punches her hard enough to throw her towards the others. Before any of them can react, Amazo dashes in and starts taking them down one at a time with their own abilities.

Red Arrow, remembering Bruce's gift, reaches into the pocket of his utility belt and takes out a power dampening arrow. He quickly throws it at the ground, and it emanates an energy dampening field that stretches to nearly all of the Square. By that time, Amazo had quickly taken down everyone. He's next.

Amazo comes in with a front kick similar to Red Arrow's. He sidesteps it and counters with a hook, but Amazo blocks him with a helmet guard.

_Amazo has our strengths, but even he can't block forever. Probe him for weaknesses._

He then attacks at different angles with his bow. But on his third swing, Amazo catches and pulls it, bringing him closer. With one last pull, it disarms the bow and starts attacking him with a ferocity similar to the Green Arrow.

_Attack patterns similar to Dads. Can block them, but I will eventually slip up. I need an opening. A weakness. Any…Any weakness. Including our own. It copies everything about us, but it probably does not discard any of the flaws. _

On the fifth swing, Red Arrow lets Amazo hit him. He falls onto his hands and knees, opening himself up to an overhead attack. As Amazo prepares said overhead attack, Red Arrow takes out a kryptonite arrow and stabs it into Amazo's ankle. Amazo limps back, its robotic voice screeching in anguish.

Seeing the result, Red Arrow smirks. _As expected._

But Amazo is quick to see the cause, taking the Arrow out. Instead of throwing it onto the floor, it aims at the power dampening arrowhead. The arrow penetrates the center of it, the circuitry cut and sticking out of the hole. The energy field quickly dissipates. Amazo, instead of fighting any further, runs off towards the center of the city.

"You have demonstrated adaptation, but only minimal leadership" Novu, who Red Arrow forgot was still here, says. "Now, you must use all you have learned up to this point." He opens a breach behind him and walks through it. "I will be watching."

Before Red Arrow can say one thing to him, Novu is gone. His attention then turns to the group, who are slowly getting up. All except XS. Red Arrow runs to her, seeing that she is still breathing, but only a little. He presses his fingers to her wrist, able to feel a pulse.

"Is she okay?" Barry asks, kneeling down and quickly putting a hand on her cheek.

"She's fine," Red Arrow assures him. "She's just knocked out."

Barry takes XS into his arms and lifts her up. "Give me the extrapolator. I'm getting her back to STAR Labs."

"Just one quick thing. Phasing and running at the same time. It's hard to do unless you focus hard on it, right?"

"Yeah, yeah it is. Now give me the extrapolator."

"Frost!" Red Arrow calls out as he takes out the extrapolator. "Go with Barry and make sure XS is healed. We'll take things from here."

Frost, who is just getting up, nods her head. "Ugh…got it."

Barry opens a breach and quickly takes XS through it, with Frost slowly catching up with him. As they do, Red Arrow searches through his newly formed memories, seeing his younger self with Cisco, an IVO Labs scientist, and the alien android Braniac 5.

_They're working on the codes and are nearing completion. And Billy is with them? Why would Novu make that— you know what, forget that. What matters is that we still have a chance._

He then presses the comm on his ear.

"Cisco, our initial attempt failed. We're moving to plan B."

"**Got it. We're nearly done, but I guess you know that already, given younger you is here."**

"Just as I know Shazam is in one piece. Get the codes and breach to my location. And be quick about it."

"**Leave it to us."**

Red Arrow ends the call and turns to the others, who have gotten up but are still either slightly dizzy, checking themselves for major wounds, or making sure everyone else is okay, like Oliver checking on Mia.

"Everyone!" They all turn to Red Arrow. "We still have a chance to take down Amazo. When it copied us, it wasn't just our abilities and strategies, but also our weaknesses."

"Then he's vulnerable," Oliver assesses. "Do we need to share our weaknesses then?"

Red Arrow shakes his head. "No need. I already have a plan." He points to Oliver and Older Flash. "You two get Amazo back to the square, specifically through that street."

He points to the street northwest of the square, narrowed by buildings.

"We're on it," Older Flash assures. He pats Oliver on the shoulder. "Try and keep up." They are gone in an instant, their lightning trail going down the street that Red Arrow pointed out.

"J'onn and Elongated man, you will both take up positions by the buildings on either side. On my signal, you'll stretch out your arms out and grab hold."

"Making a trip wire," J'onn evaluates. "I'll take the left side of the building then."

"Then I'll take right," Elongated man says.

As they both run towards the buildings, Red Arrow addresses to the others, "The rest of you, be prepared to hold down Amazo when he gets here. The shutdown code will be here soon, and we'll only have one chance when we have it. Let's make it count."

* * *

Oliver and Old Flash finally catch up to Amazo, who begins to pick up a car.

"Split up," Old Flash commands as Amazo sets its eyes on them. "Confuse it."

They both break off into the alleys. Amazo looks everywhere for them, readying itself to throw the car.

"We need it to follow us back to the square," Oliver says over the comm. "Aggravate it as much as you can."

Old Flash and Oliver zip in and out, getting a punch in when they are able and retreating back into the alleys. However, after some time, Amazo drops one hand and shoots an ice trail on all of the alley entrances. Old Flash manages to stop, but Oliver slips and tumbles as he exits from an alley. Old Barry grabs Oliver quickly and runs behind the side of a bus stop.

"Well, we certainly got its attention," Older Barry says, crouching to Oliver's level.

Amazo then shoots heat vision that cuts through the top of the bus stop. They duck their heads down, hearing the cut piece fall down on the sidewalk with a thud.

"We're sitting ducks," Old Flash points out. "We need to find a better position."

Oliver starts looking frantically around him for any place that isn't a building or alley that Amazo would destroy to get to them. To his left, he sees an empty construction site.

_No civilians, lots of room for maneuvering, and maybe…_

"Construction site," Oliver says as he slowly gets up. "Follow me!"

Both of them make a dash for it. Amazo takes a great leap and lands just behind them before running after them.

"Run on the beams, get to the top, then jump off," Oliver tells Old Flash. "If I'm right, what will happen will make Amazo angry enough to chase us back to the Square."

"Copy that," Old Barry acknowledges.

When they are at the building, they run along the side and onto the first beam. Amazo, instead of following them, runs to the center and hovers just below them. It shoots ice at their positions again, but they are able to outrun it all the way to the top. As Oliver instructed, they jump off, along with heaps of icy debris. They land and quickly run out of the way. But Amazo is slow to react, getting buried by the chunks of icy beams as it tried to fly away.

Old Barry elbows Oliver softly and chuckles. "You think a little rubble is going to make that indestructible robot an—"

Amazo clears the debris like it was shoving away paper and lets out a shriek.

"Run!" Oliver yells.

When they start to run away from the site, Amazo follows, almost gaining on them. Older Flash manages to outrun it, but Oliver is having a hard time calling upon his energy. At this point, Amazo is close enough to almost touch him.

_I can't…run any faster. I can't…focus…_

"…_focus on what matters to you."_

Oliver closes his eyes.

_Focus on William. Focus on running back to your son._

"_Barry…compassionate. Outgoing…work better in a positive mood."_

_Focus on being back with Felicity when all of this is over. Focus on what the two of us, along with William and Mia, will do after this. Focus on them because you love them and they love you. Focus…Run. Run Oliver. Run!_

Suddenly, Oliver feels a surge of energy running through his veins. He runs fast enough to escape Amazo's reach and catch up to Old Flash.

"That's the spirit!" Old Flash compliments.

"Red Arrow," Oliver calls up. "We're heading your way. How are we with the shutdown code?"

"**It's done."**

* * *

"The code should be here any—"

Just then, Red Arrow hears a breach opening behind him. He turns around and sees Shazam along with Braniac 5, Cisco, and his younger self.

"Second," Red Arrow finishes as they walk up to him.

"Red Arrow, I presume?" Braniac 5 asks.

"Where's the code?"

Braniac 5 brings up his hand, showing a small white drive with a red light and a slot small enough to fit on an arrow shaft.

"Right here." He gives it to Red Arrow, who fixes it onto one of his regular arrows.

"It should be able to destroy him."

Red Arrow looks up at Amazo, shooting a glance at him. "Destroy him?"

"I made a few minor changes to the code. It is now a virus that will wipe Amazo's CPU, causing it to go haywire and dismantle itself."

"Why?"

"Because after seeing what it can do, it should not be allowed to be salvaged and used again. Not by us or anyone."

_And I may have subtly hinted that it would be a failure anyways,_ Young William telepathically says to Red Arrow.

Remembering the new memory, Red Arrow smirks. "Noble," he says, addressing both of them.

"**We're nearing your position,"** Old Flash says. **"Get ready!"**

Red Arrow turns around, seeing J'onn and Elongated man crouched behind the buildings in between the street and raising their hands slightly.

"**You ready to shake hands?"** Elongated man jokes.

"**Funny,"** J'onn responds almost coldly.

"**We're about 10 seconds out,"** Oliver says.

"On my signal," Red Arrow says.

_9, 8…_

"Wait."

_7, 6, 5…_

"WAIT."

_4, 3._

"NOW!"

J'onn and Elongated man, as instructed, stretch out their arms. Old Flash and Oliver run past just before they grab each other's hands. Amazo is just a bit late and trips over the arms. It rolls and skids on the ground before stopping at the front of the stairs.

"Now! Hold it down!" Red Arrow orders.

Superman and Supergirl are the first ones in, grabbing Amazo by the arms and holding it up for a clear shot. Old Flash and Oliver quickly come in and counter phase it so it can't get out. Mia shoots a couple of grapple arrows at its neck and pulls them to try and keep it stable. But these measures won't last forever.

Red Arrow places the arrow with the virus on the bow, draws it back on the string, and aims directly at Amazo's head.

"Amazo, you have FAILED. THIS. CITY."

Red Arrow lets the string go and the arrow flies through the air. It pierces Amazo's eye, the drive with the virus inside of its head. Soon enough, the robot writhes in agony, screeching as if in pain. Everyone runs away, leaving it in its pained state. Eventually, it breaks apart, the pieces falling onto the street.

Seeing that it is nothing more than spare parts, Red Arrow lets out a subtle sigh. But while everyone else cheers, brags, and congratulates each other on a job well done, he looks around for Novu, seeing where he may have been watching from. There are no signs of him on any rooftop or in any window. If he was observing, he's gone now.

"Hey." Oliver pats Red Arrow on the shoulder. "We did it. We won."

"For now," Red Arrow points out. "But Novu's gone, which means his games aren't over. The question is: what's next?"


	10. Chapter 9: The Next Step

**Disclaimer:** Based on characters and references created by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!

* * *

"Let me be the first to say that we are so, SO sorry for what we have done," Iris says, clenching her fists tightly together in a ball.

William can sense the tension from Team Flash, even when they are on opposite sides of the cortex. It probably helped that Barry was smiling at her apology while William and Oliver are giving neutral stares. But deep down, William is as forgiving as Barry, as is father most likely is.

"We shouldn't have locked you up in the pipeline," Cisco adds, looking slightly down from them. "It was a rash decision and a harsh one."

"And you were right William," Caitlin points out with a serious stare. "We let fear drive our actions."

The reminder of William's pleas to Caitlin make him smirk a little.

"And fear is a dangerous motivator indeed," Sherloque agrees, his low pitched voice making his accented voice sound somber.

"I was actually motivated by group pressure," Ralph says with a raised hand, resulting in glares from everyone. He lowers his hand and shrugs his shoulders. "Just saying."

"Can you forgive us?" Iris asks.

"Of course we can," Barry says encouragingly.

"We always held out hope that you would make the right decision," William admits. "Well, eventually."

"The point is," Oliver interrupts. "All is forgiven."

"Thank you Braniac," J'onn J'onn's says as he, Kara, and Clark step into the cortex. "Keep us updated." He then hangs up and turns his attention to the others. "I just got off the phone with my friends at the DEO. They contacted IVO Labs and assured us that something like Amazo will never be built again. And everyone hurt by Amazo are recovering quickly."  
"Including my sister," Kara adds.

"Good to hear," William says, walking up to them with his arms crossed. "But are you sure you want to help us? The journey may be long and you all have been through a lot."

"You guys helped us," Kara says. "And you're our friends. Of course we're willing to help."

"And the Book of Destiny is a dangerous tool," Clark points out. "Especially in the hands of whoever Novu gave it to."

"And he must pay for what he has done to National City," J'onn says with an almost quiet anger in his voice.

William nods. "Then lets get started." He walks to the center relative to everyone's position before continuing, "So, while Team Arrow is on standby and surveying Star City, same for Nora scouting out the entire globe, Team Flash will keep tabs on Central City, along with you Billy." He looks to Billy, who is sitting in the computer chair in his normal form with Older Barry standing next to him. "The rest of us are an away team, but we're not going anywhere until we have a lead." He looks to Billy and Older Barry once more. "Did Novu leave any mention of his ne—"

Suddenly, William's vision distorts. He becomes dizzy, unable to speak and move for a moment.

"Are you okay Will?" Billy's voice echoes.

William closes his eyes and shakes his head. "Uh, yeah. I'm just…exhausted. Anyways, did he mention—"

_As soon as he opens his eyes, he finds himself no longer in STAR Labs. His eyes look upon the mysterious forest he saw when he was knocked out by Ralph Dibney. He lets out a slightly frustrated sigh._

"_Well great. Could he have picked a better—"_

_William then hears the beep of a car behind him. He turns around, seeing the man with the long hair and white coat again. But Novu is not there this time and the man is not in possession of the Book of Destiny. He throws a satchel in his car and leans on the trunk, his head bowed down. _

_William starts to walk up to the man like before, hoping that this time, he can—_

"_William?"_

_At the mention of his name, he turns around and is about to get into a combat stance. However, he stops himself upon seeing that it is not Novu, but rather Barry, his father, and J'onn. He can guess that J'onn accessed his mind and brought the two of them with him._

_But that only answered part of the question that he now asks, "What are you guys doing here?"_

"_You fell on the floor," Oliver answered as he walks up to William. "But your eyes are still open." _

"_I assumed you were in a hypnotic trance," J'onn adds. "So I—"_

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah," William speeds things along. "I figured that part out. But look!"_

_They all walk next to him, seeing the man whose motions seem to suggest crying or some form of grief. _

"_Is that him?" Barry asks. "The guy Novu gave the book to?"_

"_It is," William answers. "But I don't know who that is or why—"_

"_Doctor!" The familiar voice of Novu's voice calls out. _

_It echoes within the vision, startling everyone, including the doctor. They look around, but do not see him anywhere._

"_Dr. John Deegan."_

_Novu's voice is now more distinct, coming seemingly out of nowhere. He stands in the parking lot across from the man now known as Dr. John Deegan. _

_Deegan turns around, showing himself to the others. He looks unremarkable, his facial hair nearly stubble, and his face looking somewhat wrinkled. He does not look very old though. More likely he works long hours, judging from the bags under his eyes. _

"_Who are you supposed to be?" Dr. Deegan asks in a bitter tone._

"_Something beyond your comprehension," Novu responds. "And in need of your assistance."_

_Deegan walks over to the driver's side of his car. "Look, I don't care what prank you're trying to pull, but I'm not in the—"_

_Before he can even pull the door open, the car windows break, the top compressing down on it hard. Deegan shrieks and jumps away from it. The others watching are a bit startled, but not as much as him._

"_It is not wise to test a being like me," Novu says as he walks towards Deegan. "Especially one who has tasked you to carry a burden such as this."_

_Deegan holds up his hands to his eyes, assuming the worst. Instead, Novu holds up the Book of Destiny. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Deegan lowers his hands and looks at it with confusion._

"_This book will allow you to reshape reality as you see fit," Novu explains. "And I have selected you to wield it because you have a vision, one that has been denied for too long."_

_Deegan seems to be entranced by the book, for he looks at it with an amazed stare, his hands slowly gripping the sides. He tries to take it, but Novu does not let go just yet._

"_Use it wisely, Deegan. And…" Novu gives a small smirk. "Think big."_

_Novu lets the book go, allowing Deegan to slowly open it. As he does, the blue stream of energy from the previous vision shoots out of it._

_Deegan laughs hysterically as he flips the pages. "I can see everything! It's—"_

_Suddenly, everything freezes. Everything except Novu, who turns around and looks at the group as if he can see them. _

"_You have made it this far," Novu addresses them, which surprises William and the others. "Which is why I allow you to see this now. You and the others who have intruded upon this vision." _

_The four of them look on with various confused stares, wondering how Novu would have known that._

"_It is time William. Time to truly prove yourself worthy of being the Chosen." He points to the now frozen Deegan. "Find John Deegan and use the Book of Destiny to restore reality to the way it was. That is your next test."_

_Suddenly, a wall of white light letting out a hum slowly evaporates the wall in front of the car. Hearing the same hum behind them, the four of them turn around and see another wall of light swallowing the forest one row of trees at a time. _

"_Oh no," William then begins to panic. "Quick! Find any clues about where this may be."_

_The group quickly disperses, finding anything that may pinpoint where they are. So far, all William sees is the forest, the parking lot, and the demolished…car…_

"_Wait a minute." William runs towards it quickly and looks at the license plate. "Black license plate with gray lettering? That's only found in—"_

_William's eyes grow wide, and so does his smile. He shouts to the others, "Guys! I know where this is. It's—"_

* * *

"Gotham!"

William shoots straight up from a bed, surrounded by everyone, including his father, Barry, and J'onn, who are right next to him. He finds himself in the small lab next to the cortex, breathing heavily after waking up from his vision.

"Gotham City," He clarifies with an exasperated breath, clutching the sides of the bed to keep himself balanced.

"William," Oliver grabs his arm quickly. "William, calm down. Just take a minute"

William does as he is asked, waiting until his breathing slows down before continuing, "Black license plate…with gray lettering. It was modeled after the colors of Batman, the protector of Gotham City, the only place where such a plate is made. That's where Dr. Deegan is."

"Gotham City?" Oliver asks. "Are you sure?"

William nods.

"Give me a minute," Caitlin says as she exits into the cortex. "I can fact check that."

"And I need to get ready for the mission."

When William tries to get up, Oliver tightens his grip on his arm.

"No! You just got up from whatever vision Novu put you in. You need rest."

"I'm fine Dad," William assures as he shrugs Oliver's hand off. "And we're running on sparse time. You saw how Dr. Deegan looked, how he acted. If he has the book, then it won't be long before he gets driven mad by it."

"Then let me and Old Barry scout ahead, get the lay of the land."

"Which Deegan will most likely be expecting. What he won't expect is…" _I'm sorry Bruce, but I have to say it. _"Is that I already know the 'lay of the land.'

"You do? How would you—"

"Guys," Caitlin interrupts, walking back into the room. "I ran the license plate description and it matches. They are only manufactured in Gotham City and very few of them ever make it out of there."

William nods. "As I expected."

"But…I looked up a Dr. Deegan in Gotham. I managed to get a basic history, but nothing beyond that."

Everyone looks at her with various looks of confusion.

"What do we have?" Barry asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Just that he used to be a psychiatrist before some complaints against him forced him out of a job. He's poked his head out a few times, but he's rarely seen in public."

"Then he's covering his tracks," William surmises. He gets up from the bed and moves to the doorway. "We need to move. Supergirl, I'll need you and Superman to transport us to Gotham."

"Hold on," Oliver calls out, catching up to him. "You haven't explained how—"

"Oliver," Old Barry chimes in just as William was about to say something. "There's no time. He knows Gotham. That's all we need to know. We need to move before Deegan masters the Book completely."

While he maintains his neutral stare, William can't help but be curious about how Old Barry is certain that Deegan hasn't mastered the book already, if at all. The laymen would have written it off, but William counts it among the few suspicions William has been developing about this entire adventure.

Turning his attention back to Oliver, who is about to refute this, William places a hand on his shoulder. "Dad, I promise that I'll answer your questions when we get there. But he's right. We need to move."

William moves towards Kara and asks, "Shall we?"

Kara nods a bit unnervingly. She is slow to place a hand on his shoulder, almost looking as if she was going for his hand.

_Okay, I'll have two things to resolve when we get there,_ William thinks to himself before he feels the rush of super speed taking him out of Star Labs and towards Gotham.


	11. Chapter 10: Gotham City

**Disclaimer:** Based on characters and references created by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!

* * *

Her grapple zips her up towards the gargoyle at the top of Wayne Tower, where her hidden elevator to the cave awaits her. As she was about to step onto the balcony, she hears a strange noise in the distance. A whoosh of wind that isn't hitting her face, even though she was at the highest point of the city. She turns around and, at a rooftop in the distance, she spies two people. One of them she recognizes as the new Star City vigilante, Red Arrow. The other is a blonde woman wearing a red cape and a blue suit with a red S on her chest.

Acting quickly, she gets out her long-range laser mic and points it at the two of them.

"I'm sorry," the blonde says to Red Arrow, who looks a bit disoriented. "I could have taken it down a notch."

"It's alright," Red Arrow responds, lifting up a defensive hand. "I'm just not used to always speeding around. That's all."

_Speeding around. Is she a meta?_

Suddenly, three more people show up out of nowhere. Another Star City vigilante, but this one she knows too well. Oliver Queen, aka, the Green Arrow. Next to him is a tall man with black hair, wearing a suit similar to the one the blonde is wearing. The other is someone unusual. A man with green skin and wearing a suit with an X shape running from the shoulders to the waistline.

_Is that…an alien? A real alien?_

Oliver Queen takes a deep breath. "Now I kinda know how it feels for Dig."

The alien changes his look to a dark-skinned man in simple attire. He looks out into the city and says, "Just like our Gotham City."

They all look out to where the alien is looking at.

"It wasn't always like this," Red Arrow starts to explain. "In its heyday, it was the richest and most luxurious place you could be. Now its one of the most crime infested and corrupt. Batman reduced most of it, but it's still in bad shape."

She can't help but bow her head a bit, her free hand clenching into a fist. She remembers the time when Gotham City was at its peak and lived to see what it has become. She and her cousin did.

"Where's—wait!" The blonde says. "There they are."

Suddenly, two more get added to the group. One is an old man wearing a suit very reminiscent of the Flash, but with different material. Another is what looks like a large ball of lightning that dashes past the others.

"Uh, I think Oliver's still getting the hang of it," the old man says, presumably defending the ball of lightning.

_But Oliver Queen is right there. Is this guy also named Oliver_?

The lightning makes its way to the group and dissipates, showing what looks to be the real Flash, for she recognizes the suit from the news.

Oliver Queen laughs at the Flash as he hastily says, "I'm still getting the hang of it!"

_Getting the hang of what?_ She wonders. _Hasn't the Flash been around for five years, at least?_

Both Flashes walk up to the balcony and look out at the city with the others.

"It's been a long time since I've been back here," The Flash says.

"You were in Gotham before?" The Red Arrow asks.

"Yeah, when I was CEO of Queen Consolidated."

Her lips part slightly, and she tilts her head to the side. _Did he just say HE was the CEO of Queen Consolidated?_

"I was here doing an interview with Vesper, a Radio personality. I was trying to…" The Flash looks over to the Red Arrow, biting his lip a little and tapping his fingers unnervingly. "…uh, convince her that the company was above board."

"Which no doubt involved having an 'intimate' relationship," Red Arrow sarcastically says.

The Flash bumbles on his next words, as if confounded. His head bows down enough for her to see his face scrunch up, as if he didn't want to go down this path. It's probably because everyone else looked at him with curious faces.

He raises his head up and says, "That's not a conversation for children."

"I'm not a child."

"Well, past you is! And you're my son."

_Did he just say son?_

"Are you suggesting that we try to find her and ask about Deegan's whereabouts?" Red Arrow asks.

The Flash, or whoever he is, takes a moment to take a relieved breath, probably glad that the conversation changed "Yes. She happens to be very knowledgeable about—"

"Did she think it would be a lasting relationship? Did she think you loved her?"

The Flash shrugs and gives and upset look. "I don't know. Maybe. What does it matter to you?"

"It matters because Vesper holds grudges easily. She may refuse to see us if she instantly hears the name Oliver Queen."

_Wait a minute! That's Oliver Queen? But that guy in the hoodie is Oliver Queen. Isn't he?_

"He could be right," the blonde agrees. "If she's like that, then we won't get answers from her easily."

"Well, she has more knowledge of Gotham and the people in it than anyone. She may be our only way to find Deegan." The Flash's attention turns back to the Red Arrow. "Unless you have a better plan, since you supposedly know Gotham already."

"I do," Red Arrow clarifies. "We head to Wayne Tower. It's the highest point in Gotham. We can see everything there, even across the bay. I say we use that to find the parking lot and forest from the vision."

"That could take hours."

"Or minutes at best. We'll only know if we go to the tower now."

_Go for Vesper. Go. For. Vesper._

"Both sound like good options," the black-haired guy says. "So, I say we split up. Four of us go to the tower and the rest to find Vesper."

_Damn it!_ _Now I'm going to have uninvited company._

The blonde raises her hand and says, "I'll go to the tow—"

"YOU'RE coming with me," says the Flash, almost angrily. The blonde does not argue further, bowing her head almost as if retreating from a battle.

"And I'll go too," Oliver, or whoever he is, says. "And who knows? Maybe we can get a chance to meet Batman, get his help."

"Batman doesn't exist," The Flash refutes.

Oliver argues, "Of course he exists."

"No, he doesn't. The Batman was nothing more than a publicity stunt by the GCPD—"

Most of the group then devolves into an argument, with others saying that "There are photos" or "He exists where we're from," the Flash trying to counter all those points.

"_Where they're from?" Where did they come from?_

However, the Red Arrow moves away from the conversation and towards an object covered in a white tarp. He places his hand on it, as if waiting for things to quiet down.

"I'm the original vigilante!" The Flash yells, ending the conversation.

"Guys!" Red Arrow calls out. "I think this will give you the answer."

Red Arrow pulls the tarp away and finds, to her amazement and theirs, the one thing no one has been able to. The Bat Signal. A lone spotlight that has the Batman's symbol plastered on it. She remembered when it would shine even through the cloudiest night, and he would always answer the call, ready to strike fear into the hearts of criminals, as she is striving to do now.

The group looks at the Bat Signal in awe. Everyone except the Flash, who just crosses his arms. "You think a little spotlight is proof?"

"Proof enough for us," Oliver Queen exclaims. "Let's light this thing—"

"He won't come," The Red Arrow says gloomily. "He left Gotham three years ago. For now, we're on our own."

The Flash uncrosses his arms and heads to a side of the rooftop that faces an alley. "Then lets move. We've wasted enough time already."

As Oliver Queen and the blonde follow him, Red Arrow calls out, "If you run into trouble, regroup at Wayne Tower. Call for help if you need it."

"We will," The Flash affirms somewhat coldly before using his powers to run down the wall. The Blonde jumps down and Oliver Queen uses an arrow with a grapple attached to it to safely jump down. That leaves the other four on the rooftop alone.

"You think your father will be all right?" The older man dressed as Flash asks.

"I sure hope so," Red Arrow answers.

He looks back at the Bat Signal as the Old Flash and the Martian head down into the alley. But the black-haired guy looks back at the Red Arrow.

"Are you coming?" He asks.

Red Arrow nods. "I just want a minute. I'll join you shortly."

The guy just shrugs his shoulders and jumps down to join the others.

Just as she was about to lower the laser mic, Red Arrow reaches into his belt pocket for something. He takes out what looks to be some sort of retractable object, for it snaps into the figure of…

_Is that…a BAT?_

The Red Arrow holds up the object in his hand, showing a design that is different to her own. It looks like the original. Batman's own batarang.

_He can't possibly be…_

Suddenly, the Red Arrow looks over in her direction and smirks, as if he knows she's here.

"See you soon, Ms. Kane."

_Wait! He knows? How does he even…_

Kate lowers the laser mic and watches as the Red Arrow jumps down to the alley with a grapple arrow, as Oliver Queen did.

_Who is this guy?_

* * *

William opens the door into the lobby and allows Clark, J'onn and Old Barry to walk in first. They look around the big, open space, seeing parts of the wall consumed by plant overgrowth, dust on the floors, and an absence of employees. Things that were drastically different from when William bought out the building after the merger of Wayne Tech and Queen Consolidated.

"Well, this place has seen better days," Old Flash remarks. "I thought it would be bustling like the Wayne Technologies in Earth 90."

"It used to be," William explains. "But the company went broke overnight. Possibly hackers. They tried to recover, but Bruce Wayne's disappearance didn't help matters."

"Why did he jump ship?"

William shrugs his shoulders, disguising the truth that he knows. He then looks up to the top of the stairs behind the reception desk, seeing the elevator.

"I'll go up and see if the elevator's operational," William says. "You three stay here and be prepared to head out if the others call for help."

"I'm coming with," Clark responds. He walks closer to William until he is at a distance to whisper, "Because I already know she's up there."

William looks at Clark with a slightly stunned face. He then frowns a bit, realizing that Clark must have heard him with his super hearing. He silently grunts before saying, "Fine. You two stay here. We'll call you when we've scouted the area."

William and Clark head up the stairs and towards the elevator. They press the button to call for it, expecting that it may take at least a minute to come down. However, the doors open immediately, the elevator already present.

"Well, that's convenient," Clark notes.

"She brought the elevator down for us," William whispers. "That means she wants to talk. Let's proceed cautiously."

They walk into the elevator slowly, cautious of any kind of traps. So far, there are none, and the elevator heads towards the upper floor. William looks around, seeing a camera that does not function, none that are hidden, or any triggers that may set off something. Not even a P.A system.

"Well, either she wants to meet face to face," William begins to deduce. "Or she is not as prepared as Bruce is."

"I guess not everything runs in the family," Clark jokes. "But do you really think she'll talk to us?"

"If everything I have done comes to fruition, then she'll see us as allies."

"You mean removing the tarp from the Bat Signal?"

"Partially. But I also showed her something she wanted."

"And that's what exactly?"

"Private information."

Clark chuckles and says, "Looks like Bruce did rub off on you."

"He was a good teacher…and foster father."

A dinging noise rings in the elevator and the doors open. In front of them is a long hallway with two doorways. One is to the right, leading into the CEO's office. Another is at the end of the hall, leading towards the balcony outside.

As they step out, William asks, "Is she in there?"

"She is," Clark responds. "I've kept my eye on her since we were in the elevator. She's sitting in a chair."

"Good. Wait here. I need to do this alone."

Clark nods and says, "Be careful."

William proceeds into the office, which is similar in decorum as the lobby. However, there isn't as much plant life hugging the walls and the floors are much cleaner. Across from him is Kate Kane, looking just as he remembered her. Short bobbed hair and slightly pale skin, along with makeup and some lipstick helping to cover it up.

"Hold it," Kate demands as she stretches out her hand. "Take the batarang out and give it to me. Do NOTHING else"

She stares William down, eyeing him with suspicion. He proceeds to take out the batarang again and unfold it.

"It's not a replica Ms. Kane," William assures as he walks closer to the desk. When he reaches the desk, he stretches the batarang out to her. "It was a parting gift after completing my training."

She takes it quickly and looks at it thoroughly. Her eyes gradually widen as she flips it over, checking every corner and edge.

She looks at him again with a more wary look. "How did you find him?"

William smiles, answering, "The way you would have found him…if we had ever met."

* * *

"Okay, Vesper's station should be just a couple more blocks this way," Oliver says as they walk down the alleyway.

"Tell me again why I don't just fly us there or you use super speed?" Kara asks.

"Because both methods will get us noticed," Oliver answers. "Vigilantes aren't very welcomed here."

"That and Oliver wants an excuse to talk to you about William," Barry blurts out. Oliver frowns at him, but Barry tries to defend himself saying, "Well, we were all thinking it."

"That doesn't mean you have the right to—"

"Can we stop?!" Kara shouts, getting their attention. She then continues in a low, yet hasty voice, "Look Oliver, I get that you're being a cautious parent, and I do applaud that. But there is NOTHING going on between me and William."

"You tried to flirt with him the INSTANT you laid eyes on him Kara," Oliver points out in a silent, angry whisper. "And you have been shy around him ever since then."

"Because I found out he was the future version of a kid who's been doing chores around my cousin's old home!" Kara responds, trying to be as silent as possible. "And it's not shyness, it's…awkwardness. You'd feel the same way around a girl from the future who you knew in the present as a kid."

"She's got a point," Barry intervenes. Oliver gives him another glare, but Barry once again becomes defensive, "Just saying."

Oliver looks back at Kara with the same glare. "And none of that awkwardness you feel is from finding my son attractive, in any way?"

"No!" Kara silently responds.

Looking for a more honest answer, Oliver's glare becomes more profound, almost piercing. Kara's fists clench and unclench multiple times and she swallows with almost no control or rhythm.

Eventually, she admits. "Okay! Partially that. But I have NO desire to, like, date him or something. I promise. Now can we—"

"Guys!" Barry yells, his voice sounding almost as if he is struggling.

They turn around, seeing a bald man with a snake tattoo holding Barry by the throat and putting a gun to his head. Barry tries to break free, but the man puts the barrel of his gun closer to his head as a warning to stop.

"Well, look what we have here," the man says sinisterly. "The Green Arrow himself along with a little posse. Now what would Star City's greatest vigilante be going in our most 'gracious' city?"

"Let him go!" Kara shouts as she is about to intervene.

However, Oliver raises an arm in her way before she took one step. "Let me handle this."

He puts his hands up, subtly pressing the comm in his ear.

"**Oliver, is that you?"** Old Barry's voice asks. **"Is everything okay?"**

"There's no need for this," Oliver begins to negotiate. "We don't want any blood spilt here in Crime Alley."

"Shut it!" The man commands, gripping Barry's neck tighter, making it hard for him to breathe. "This is our territory, and your trespassing."

Suddenly, multiple men come out of the alleyways behind and in front of them, all with snake tattoos on different parts of their bodies. They carry bats, pipes, chains, and knives, all pointed towards Oliver and Kara.

"**I see,"** Old Barry says over the comm. **"I'll be there in less than a minute."**

"Wallets or jewelry," the man starts to demand. "That's the price to get out of here unscathed. Now, hand them over to me."

Oliver quickly takes out his wallet, which is actually Barry's, and starts to take all the money out of it. But then the man points the gun at him.

"The WHOLE wallet. You too blond—"

Just then, Barry head butts the man and then removes the arm from his neck while lunging for the gun. He throws the man to the ground and, armed with the gun, points it at the criminals around them, yelling, "Stay back!"

He regroups with the others and they form a circle, back to back, keeping their eyes on the whole gang. Whenever one of them tries to get close, Barry points the gun at his or her head, even though Oliver knows that he is bluffing. But regardless, they inch closer and closer, knowing that even if Barry does have the will to shoot, he can't get them all.

"We have a way out of this, right?" Barry asks, not keeping his eyes away from the criminals around them.

Suddenly, a familiar sound is heard. A subtle crackle of lightning that becomes louder by the second. They and the gang look over to where it is coming from, seeing a red silhouette being followed by yellow streaks of lightning. The next thing they know, the three of them are swooped away from Crime Alley, the last thing they see is the gang members backing away or running in fear of what they saw.

* * *

"So, if what you're saying is true," Kate begins to deduce as she and William walk out towards the balcony. "Then…it does work? I get to see him again?"

"With my help, yes," William responds. "But I can't do it out of generosity this time. If you help me, then I can help you."

She leans on the railing, looking out towards the city. She says nothing for a moment, but William can tell that her eyes are fixed on the old Bat Signal across the way.

"Three years of searching for him. For Bruce. Finding out he's on another Earth. And here you are, the key to everything, just happening to be in my city." She looks over to him and asks, "How did you know I would be listening in?"

William smirks. "You're always ending your patrol at this time and the gargoyle you always perch on just happens to be across from the rooftop with the signal on it. A place that's also a constant in the other Earth." He then shrugs his shoulders. "Well, that and I had detective vision track your movements since entering the city."

Kate looks at him with a glare. "You took control of a Wayne Tech satellite?"

"No," William responds. "I rediscovered one which was abandoned, but still functional. Big difference."

She nods her head, but still glares at him. "Does anyone else know?"

William shakes his head. "Bruce prefers no one but his most trusted know. One of them being you. And I CAN arrange for you to see him again. I just need your help."

Kate then raises an eyebrow. "Does it have to do with the Flash and Oliver Queen acting weirdly?"

"It's…a lot more complicated than that."

Kate just gives a short "hm" in response.

"Hey, Kate," A familiar yet nervous voice calls out from behind them. They turn around, seeing Lucius Fox (or Luke for short), wearing a gray business suit and pants, walking up to them with shifting eyes. "There's a guy down the hallway and I've detected others in the lob—"

He stops as he lays eyes on William, who he points to and asks, "Who exactly are you?"

"Someone who shares a mutual friend," William explains, showing off the batarang in his hand.

"OH my god," Lucius utters, his jaw dropping so low that his chin reaches the top of his chest. As he looks up and down at William, he starts to ask, "Which one are you? Dick Grayson? Jason Todd?"

"Neither, and I'm not a Robin," William answers.

Lucius' jaw retracts and he lets out a little "huh."

"**William, do you read us?"** Oliver's voice echoes in William's comm.

He raises a quick finger and mouths "Wait a moment." He presses the device on his ear and says aloud, "I hear you. Did you find Vesper?"

"**We never got to the studio. We were ambushed in Crime Alley by a bunch of thugs. But don't worry. Older Barry got us out."**

William, as silently as he can, says to himself "Crime Alley?! Really?" While leaning back his head. He lowers his head and quickly asks, "Are you alright?"

"**We're fine, but our first option is no longer viable. Can we come up?"**

William's eyes slightly widen as he looks at Kate and Lucius.

_Oh crud! If they see these two here, they'll be asking questions. _

He quickly mouths to the both of them, "Get to the cave quickly! Go!" He then gets on the comm again. "Yeah, it's clear. You can take the—"

As Kate and Lucius start walking, the familiar gust of speedsters arriving blows across from them. The silhouettes of the gang become clearer, neutral at first, but then confused as they lay eyes on the two of them.

"—elevator," William says as he closes his eyes and clenches his fist hard.

"Meta humans?" Lucius says in a calm yet surprised tone. "Your friends are meta humans? And Oliver Queen?"

"Who are these people?" Oliver asks. "I thought the building would be abandoned."

"Hey," Clark calls out from the hallway inside as he runs into view. "Is everything all…right?" Clark freezes as he sees the others.

Oliver, who now grimaces at William, points at Clark and asks, "He knows them?" Before William can say anything, Oliver walks over and presses further in a whisper, "William, tell me what exactly is going on."

"I'm your welcoming committee," Kate intervenes. "Ever since you arrived here."

Oliver turns and looks at her, his grimace becoming more profound. "How did you know we were here?"

"You weren't exactly subtle." Kate crosses her arms and cocks her head. "I can practically see and hear everything from my building."

"I thought this building is property of Wayne Enterprises. And I don't remember a new CEO being announced."

"That's because I didn't become CEO until three years ago. And my cousin's business doesn't exactly have much of a PR team anymore."

William can't see his father's expression, but it must have been realization, judging from his tone when he says, "You're Kate Kane? I thought you were some sort of socialite. Your mother is an arms manufacturer."

"She's my stepmom," Kate corrected. "And I quit the socialite life a long time ago. I now keep this place afloat with my associate, Lucius Fox."

"The old man?"

"That was my father, Lucius Sr," Lucius explains, raising his hand. "I'm Lucius jr. But call me Luke."

After a little while of seeing Oliver look back and forth between the two of them, William knew that he can't avoid an explanation any longer. But he can't have them here.

"Kate, Luke," William addresses. "Just…give me and my group some time to talk. Clark can bring up to speed."

"Fine," Kate agrees. "But only because I need to talk to Luke about this anyways. Come on."

Kate and Clark quickly head inside. But Luke slowly follows behind, looking at Barry and saying, "By the way, BIG fan of yours Mr. Queen."

Barry gives a wide smirk, even though he knew that comment was not meant for him, while Lucius proceeds inside and closes the doors.

"Okay," William begins. "I know that I have some things to explain."

"Some things?" Oliver responds with almost the same tone of disappointment William once expressed with him at the Kent farm. "You have been keeping us in the dark since Star Labs. You claim to know about Gotham City and now you've somehow made friends with someone who has known we were here since arriving."

"And I get that looks suspicious, but—"

"Is that what the Bat Signal was for? Not just to show off that some myth MAY be true?"

"Your sounding as if you don't trust me."

"I trust YOU…as much as a father trusts his son. But yes, that trust is dwindling because you keep avoiding the subject. You promised that you would tell us what you knew when we got here. Now is the time."

William looks Oliver right in the eyes, seeing the seriousness beyond the glare. He can tell that his dad is telling the truth. His trust is diminishing. Most likely, everyone's is, but not as much as Oliver's.

William slightly nods his head. "You're right. I did promise that. So…" His eyes look down at the floor for a moment, thinking about which details need to be told and which ones must be omitted. With the story in his head, he looks up and explains, "When I escaped Cambridge, in the previous timeline, I was successful. They never found me, and I never went back. I didn't go back to Star City either since I knew that Felicity would send me back. So, I headed in the opposite direction, forged a new life for myself and changed my records with the little computer training Felicity gave me. But it wasn't perfect. I had to camp out, be taken in by orphanages that I would run away from and…" William had to swallow the dissatisfaction refraining him from saying, "STEAL…in order to survive."

"Wait, wait, wait," Oliver interrupts. "Why were you wandering around anyways?"

"Because I wanted to find someone to train me to fight. I didn't want to go back to Star City being…HELPLESS. Unable to protect myself. To protect you and Felicity. I learned a few things from street fights, but nothing that a professional martial artist could show me. But eventually…" He looks out towards the vast Gotham City expanse. "I found myself here. I scouted the streets, trying to find anyone who could train me. But my journey was cut short when I was ambushed."

"Ambushed?" Oliver interrupts again, but less abruptly than last time.

William nods. "Not in Crime Alley, like you guys, but somewhere close. I would have been killed…if not for them."

He looks off to Kate and Lucius, who look to be entranced by whatever Clark is telling them. The others look to them as well, with Oliver giving a more surprised, slightly wide-eyed stare.

"Those two saved my life," William affirms. "That's how I know we can trust them. They're the last guardians of this city and know it more than any one of us. If anyone can tell us where Deegan may be, it's them." William looks back at the group, but his attention is mostly on Oliver. "I'm just asking you to trust them in the same way I do. Please."

As he said this, Kate, Lucius, and Clark start to walk back towards the balcony. As they open the door, Lucius looks back and forth between Oliver and Barry with a frown and Kate walks towards William, seemingly neutral, but he notices her shoulders rolling uneasily.

"You were right," Kate says. "This IS a lot more complicated than I initially thought."

"So you'll help us?" William asks once more.

"On two conditions. As soon as you find Deegan and this book he has, they leave the city. I can't have more vigilante's drawing any attention."

"But not me?"

Kate walks up and whispers into William's ear, "From the way I see it, you still need to finish our experiment for us."

William nods. "Fair enough."

"What did she just say?" Oliver asks aloud.

As Kate moves away, she answers, "Something personal." She walks past William, waving a hand to have everyone follow her. "John Deegan has been on a personal blacklist of mine. He makes his home over there."

She points towards an island just off the Eastern shore of Gotham Isle. To the right side is a large forest similar to the one in William's vision. To the left end of it is a complex that William immediately recognizes.

"Arkham," he utters aloud in a displeased tone. "I knew there was something familiar about the vision."

"What's Arkham?" Barry asks.

"Only the worst Asylum in all of America, Mr. Que—" Lucius clears his throat hoarsely. "Flash. It's unregulated, patients are basically experiments, and most of the doctors there are mad scientists. The only reason it's still standing is the lack of any evidence against it and it's the only place equipped to house the worst villains."

"I've been to the Arkham on my Earth," J'onn comments. "It is just as decrepit."

"Deegan has been there since he was trained by a guy named Hugo Strange," Kate continues, "And hasn't been able to go anywhere since because of his controversial past. He's basically cornered."

"Well, we can't just walk in," Oliver points out.

"I can create some false identities for most of you Mr. Queen," Lucius assures. "But not for the Flash since anyone will recognize him."

"I can use my ARGUS credentials and Oliver can use his CCPD connections," William points out. "J'onn and Kara can infiltrate with us while the rest of us stay on standby near the Asylum." Curious about Kate and Lucius' involvement, he turns to her and asks, "You are going to help us with this one, right?"

Kate smirks. "We'll be your shadow."

William smirks back and nods in acknowledgment. "Good." He then turns to the others. "You guys head for Arkham but stay at the front gate. Oliver and I will be there with the false IDs."

Kate and Lucius head back inside and everyone is taken by all the speedsters towards Arkham. William and Oliver are now alone, leaving them free to talk.

"Any reason you wanted me to stay?" Oliver asks.

"I know there's more you want to ask," William says bluntly.

"But you didn't want the others here to answer some simple questions?"

"What is it you wanted to ask?"

Oliver plants a hand on the inside edge of the balcony and looks at William dead in the eyes. "You haven't told us who exactly trained you. Or how you got to Earth-38."

William breathes a subtle sigh and says, "I can't tell you that. You just have to trust—"

Oliver pushes his hand off the balcony and walks a bit closer to William. "I said that I trust you as much as a father trusts his son. But that trust is EARNED William. More than half the time I kept secrets; the results were almost disastrous. And it took a long time to earn the trust of others again."

"I'm aware of that."

"Then you should know that if this secret your keeping blows up in the faces of those closest to you, including me, then you are paying the price. YOU have to decide what's more important in the end, us or whatever it is you're trying to hide."

William was about ready to blurt out the truth right there. He became worried that Oliver, his father, was going to turn on him as soon as he refused to say anything further. But he quickly realized that Oliver was only giving him advice. His trust may be dwindling, but not rapidly. Otherwise, he would have put more pressure on William. But he must also understand the inverse. But not his own hypocrisy.

"Your right," William says. "So why exactly did you go through Crime Alley?"

Oliver is a bit hesitant at first, his eyes shifting to the floor for a split second. "Because… we needed a more subtle route that didn't get us noticed."

"And if you were trying to take the most 'subtle route,' you would have gone through a few alleyways adjacent to Crime Alley, which Vesper no doubt pointed out to you when you two were fraternizing with each other."

Oliver places his fingertips on his head as William says this, pleading, "Can you please stop—"

"And those would have been easy to speed through since their pretty empty anyways except in emergency evacuations, which they most likely weren't!"

Oliver may try to hide behind his glare, but William can see that he is agreeing with every word.

"Were you asking Kara about her awkwardness around me?" William asks.

Oliver stays strong, but his nose twitches a little and his eyes look away for just a second.

But William continues, "You know, I could have resolved that myself if you had let her come with me."

"I was trying to be the parent you saw me as, like you told me to do back at Slabside!"

"And I also told you to be the HERO I knew you were! There are times where you need to be one or the other. And that was NOT the time to be a parent. And keeping that intention a secret certainly wasn't good for any of us."

"How was I supposed to know that a gang of people with snake tattoos would ambush us?"

"This city is the most crime infested place! Even if you weren't there for when I said that, you would have known from your first visit here. It was still bad, even when Batman expunged most of it."

"Okay!" Oliver blurts out. "I get it. I should have been more cautious, and we shouldn't have been lingering. Are you done teaching me a lesson?"

"No Dad!" William disagrees, a profound frown forming on his face. "Because you haven't learned ANYTHING. You're still the guy who would rather think that your way is the best way rather than think about the alternative, just like when you decided to turn yourself into the FBI…" William pauses for a moment, feeling his voice about to crack. He then finishes in a strong yet silent growl, "And left me and Felicity alone!"

Oliver's grimace begins to fade, but William turns away, not caring about what sympathy he will show. After a while, he can hear Oliver's footsteps move away from him, probably thinking it best to not try to make things more arduous than they already are.

So, William just stays silent until Lucius arrives with the papers. All the while, he tries his best to fight back the tears smothering his eyes.

* * *

**Author's notes: **Hello Readers! Thank you for reading this chapter. I just thought I would make one thing clear about Batwoman in this fanfic that I believe a lot of you will ask after reading. This is not the Ruby Rose version. This is a version more akin to the comic book version of Kate Kane.

Also, thank you to those sticking around. There is more to come, especially moving towards Arkham Asylum and learning more about Deegan. Goodbye and have a great day!


	12. Chapter 11: Remnants of a Hero's Legacy

**Disclaimer:** Based on characters and references created by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!

* * *

As the elevator reaches the dark, slightly dank cave where their operation is set up, Luke can hear Kate talking.

"Yeah, I know I said I would be back home tonight, but something came up." She speaks quickly, her tone sounding like one of guilt. "I'll just be a couple hours late coming home…No, I'm helping out an acquaintance." After a little while, a chuckle can be heard. "Yeah, yeah. Another hero. I'll be back home. I promise." As Luke nears ground level, he sees a small smile across her face. "Yeah…I love you too Maggs."

She hangs up the phone just as the elevator touches down and the doors open.

"I'm guessing that was the wife?" Luke jokingly deduces.

Kate nods. "I just finished explaining that we had to delay movie night until tomorrow."

"Action movie?"

"Sitcom. It was her turn to pick."

"Oh, that's right." He walks up to her and reports, "I just gave the fake ID's to Oliver and William. They're on their way to Arkham now."

"Good," Kate acknowledges. "I just prepped the Bat Plane, so we can take off immediately."

"Actually," Lucius says, stopping Kate from walking towards the suit display case behind her. "I've been wrapping my whole head around the whole reality switching situation and…you know…"

"William being Oliver's Queen's son from the future, who we save in another timeline?" Kate accurately predicts.

Luke nods. "I can see a strong resemblance between him and the guy who's supposed to be Oliver Queen, but it just seems…coincidental. Too good to be true. How do we even know this guy is who he says he is? Or that he helps us find Bruce?"

Kate looked down at the floor, biting her lip. After a moment, she looks back up and assures, "I would've known if he was lying. Trust me."

Luke raises his eyebrow slightly, but eventually gives Kate the benefit of the doubt.

"I'll get ready."

He walks away and prepares to put on his suit. But as he breaks her line of sight, he hears her exhale loudly, confirming that there was something she did not bring up. But Lucius didn't want to push her.

_Whatever they talked about must've been personal. At least for her._

* * *

"_We met? In some alternate reality?"_

"_Well, alternate timeline, to be more precise. But yes, we've met. And I help you find Bruce Wayne. The Batman."_

_She put the Batarang down and stood up, her hands placed firmly on her desk. She stared him down in an attempt to intimidate him. "Prove it. Tell me something about myself that only I know."_

_William Queen, or so he claimed to be, slightly shook his head. "You might not like where it goes."_

"_I'm pretty resilient."_

_William placed his hands on his hips, looking up at the Wayne Enterprises Crest behind her. He takes a deep yet calm breath and then looks back at her. "Alright. The first time you've met Batman, you were outside a bar, drunk. You took a turn into an alleyway you thought led to the street where a friend was going to pick you up. Instead, you ran into members of Bane's gang. They started hustling you, and you tried to fight back. But you were being beaten, laying face down on the concrete. You knew what they were going to do to you. You were screaming, begging for help, even when they said no one was coming. But then, those same men started screaming. When things became silent, you turned around, and in front of you was the Batman standing over the unconscious bodies of the criminals. He extended a hand to you, but you were too stubborn to take it. He left without saying anything, but he knew that, deep inside, you were thankful. Later inspired by his heroics. You spent the next two years receiving training around the world, with help from your father."_

_Her arms began feeling wobbly as she heard the event being accurately told to her. It got to the point where she pushed off of them. She didn't realize it until now, but her eyes were open to the point of never closing, a single bead of sweat dripping from her hair "How…how do you know all of this?"_

"_Bruce told me, said that no one else but you and him knew about that night. He told me in case you didn't recognize me when we met again or, in this case, you could see me as an ally."_

* * *

Kate looks at her suit with the red Bat symbol and long-haired wig, modeled to be similar to Bruce's design. She wanted so desperately to emulate him, to honor him. She never expected to be taking his place for three long years. But now, knowing that she will see him again, she can't help but think back the night he saved her. How she would have done that one thing differently. How she would have said what she wanted to say to him for so long.

She walks up to it and places a hand on the symbol.

_I'll see you again Bruce. Soon._

* * *

"_While Arkham may not be the most secure place in the world, they do have countermeasures against meta humans, and it is a large complex. One person won't be able to move everywhere alone discretely."_

Disguised, Kara pushes J'onn's wheelchair towards the receptionist's desk. She sees a nurse who is reading a "Times" Magazine.

"Uh, excuse me," Kara calls out as they reach the desk. The nurse looks away from her magazine, sitting herself up as straight as possible. "I'm here to drop this guy off. He's a… special case."

The woman stares at J'onn, who is restrained by a patient's jacket. Still, he is able to shift shape into an elderly white human male and then back. But the woman's eye's only wince slightly, indicating that she has seen a shape shifter before, or maybe one too many meta humans.

"All right," She acknowledges calmly. She presses a button on the intercom in front of her and says, "We got a shape shifter. Prep a meta-human cell."

When she is done, she reaches into her desk and takes out what looks to be a metal collar. "Keep his head still please."

Kara does as the nurse asks, placing both hands on J'onn's head. The nurse then stands up and leans across to place the collar on his neck. J'onn grunts a bit as it latches onto him tight and flashes a red light.

"This collar will dampen the patient's powers until you transfer him over," The nurse explains. "They'll be down the hall there and to your left. You're to then go to the warden's office and give your report to Dr. Deegan, our head psychologist."

Upon hearing that name, Kara asks, "Is he in there now?"

"He's examining other patients, but I'll let him know you've arrived. Proceed inside please."

Kara pushes J'onn's chair into the hallway to their right, continuing until they are out of the nurse's line of sight. Looking around to see if no one else is here, she slowly breaks J'onn's collar apart with her super strength.

"All clear."

Quickly, J'onn morphs out of his jacket and changes into his normal human self, now sporting the Arkham uniform William showed to them through his phone.

"Now, let's get to the Warden's office quick," J'onn says, taking the directions that the nurse described. "Remember, if anyone asks, the patient tried to get out—"

"And you placed him in a more nearby cell in an emergency. Let's just hope that story gets us to the Warden's Office."

"_A few of us will stay outside in case Deegan makes a break for it. Meanwhile, Kara and J'onn will take the East Wing, where they keep many of the patients…"_

* * *

"_While Dad and I take the West Wing, where the Doctor's offices are." _

"And Mr. Deegan's office is just this way," the neurologist points out, leading them towards a door that William does not recognize.

"His office is through there, at the end of the hallway. But I would strongly advise waiting for him to return before—"

"We can't," Oliver says. "CCPD and ARGUS need results."

As they walk towards the door, the neurologist points out, "I-I will have to tell Mr. Deegan about this intrusion!"

As they open it, William whispers, "Good."

Beyond this door they see about a dozen others, each of them with a little window to see through and bearing a plaque next to them. As they start walking through, the cell doors' unique features become more discernible. One door farther down has green question marks painted around it, another with the names of the months and holidays. William looks at the names of each plaque, seeing names that he recognizes, such as "Jonathan Crane," "Victor Zsaz," and even more.

"These are some of Batman's rogue's gallery," William points out quietly. "Why would Deegan set up shop next to—"

He stops as he lays eyes on the last door. The one surrounded by many "HAs!" He walks towards it slowly, noticing that the name plaque for the cell has been torn off. But he knows all too well who this one once belonged to. He looks inside, seeing nothing but a bed with two items on it: a patient strap jacket and a batman doll with precise tears all over it, most likely made by a knife. Still, William can feel as if he is still in there, laughing his last laugh.

"Connor," Oliver calls.

With his focus returning, William looks back and sees Oliver in front of a door with Deegan's name plaque next to it.

Oliver opens the door and they both head inside. But what they see didn't look like an office, but a lab mixed with a museum exhibit. On the far side of the room is a normal desk with a computer on it. But behind it were various beakers of chemicals on a shelf. Towards the center was a table with wrist restraints. To the sides were bookshelves filled to the brim with encyclopedias about the human body and mind, with a few about genetic mutations, as well as displays of what appeared to be skulls and bones of animals.

"The book could be in one of those shelves," Oliver deduces.

"I'll check his computer for any additional information," William says.

William walks quickly behind the desk while Oliver checks the shelf near the entrance. To William's surprise, the computer is already logged on.

_He must have put it in sleep mode only recently._

He clicks on the document app and scrolls through the various files until he finds the one labeled "Personal logs." He clicks on it, seeing a lot of files that have the names of the criminals outside. But one file name stuck out, "Batman Abandoned Us."

_Was this from..._

Curiosity gets the better of him and he opens the video. The first thing he sees is a close up of a clean shaven, younger Deegan.

"**Okay, is thing on?"** Deegan's face moves away to check the side of the camera. **"Yep. It is."**

Deegan moves away, revealing more of himself. Not only is he clean shaven, but also has a shorter haircut combed back into a mullet.

"**Alright," **Deegan says with a clap. **"Action!"**

As Deegan moves farther away, three other people can be seen behind him, another guy and two women. Deegan moves next to the woman with blonde hair and places an arm around her waist.

"**Today commemorates the third year as a team of psychiatrists here at Arkham,"** Deegan explains as he takes a glass of Champaign from the table behind him. **"We have accomplished a great deal since first forming our branch. We have brought HUNDREDS of patients back from the brink of insanity, and will go on to rehabilitate a thousand more. Or, so we hope."**

The three others laugh at his remark. But William can't help but realize how right Deegan is. There was a time when Arkham actually did care about treating the mentally ill and the odd meta human. It was after Batman's disappearance that this reputation start to degrade when efforts to suppress mentally ill criminals skyrocket.

_Good intentions can sometimes pave the way towards Hell. But they shouldn't._

"**But for now, we raise our glasses to our successes and our future…"** He turns to the blonde woman with a smile. **"Especially ours."**

As Deegan gives her a kiss on the forehead, William looks for and finds the wedding rings on both his hand and the woman's. Something he hadn't seen before because of the low video quality

_That's his wife. Why hasn't she been mentioned before?_

"**To three years!"** Deegan cheers as he raises up his glass.

The two other doctors raise their Champaign glasses, except for the woman who raises a glass of water, wide smiles on all of their faces. **"To three—"**

Suddenly, a loud bang of a door is heard. All four of them turn to the noise's source, expressions turning from happy to wide eyes or screams of terror.

"**How the hell did he get loose?!"** The male doctor yelled.

"**The sins…of…these women,"** A sinister and familiar voice says. **"Their souls…TRAPPED…within their SINFUL bodies."**

_Zsasz._

Deegan gets in front of his wife. "Stay behind me!"

"**I…must release…them. I…MUST…KILL THEM!"**

The body of Victor Zsasz charges in and grabs Deegan. He is thrown into the camera, rolling the picture around until it points in the opposite direction.

Only Deegan is shown, trying to get up as fast as he can. But he stops as soon as the noise of a shiv slicing flesh is heard. He just stays there, one knee supporting him, his jaw unclenched, looking as if it may never close.

The last thing William can hear is the sound of screaming, choking, and then guards struggling to detain Zsasz, but Deegan is frozen in that pose the entire time.

The video is then cut to younger Deegan once again, his eyes covered by his hands. But the background is not that of this office, but rather what looks to be an apartment, judging by the couch and picture of him and his wife above it. William can see his struggle to look at the camera, as if trying to look at a loved one to impart terrible news.

"**They said that…Zsasz managed to escape his bindings as they passed our hallway. They gave us NO WARning."** His voice cracks. **"No alarm or message to prompt us to lock our office."**

His moping face turns into a frown as he says, **"But where was Batman?! Huh?! I-I never believed that he abandoned us, as the mayor kept touting. But she was right. If he were here, Batman would've helped with the escort, made sure Zsasz wouldn't have killed anybody. So, where is he? WHERE IS H—"**

William, not wanting to hear anymore of this anger, skips ahead until the setting changes once again. It is still the apartment, but the couch's fabric is torn, the photo gone. Deegan now looks a little more like his present self, but his beard is stubble and his hair is half as long.

He looks into the camera with a grimace, explaining mockingly, **"I have gone to various 'institutions,' and they all shower the same complaints on me. 'You show no compassion to your patients,' they say. Or 'You used them as guinea pigs.' Well, these 'patients' were psycho killers just waiting to be released so that they could prey on the innocent. All of them are! I see now I was wrong to mistrust Hugo's assumptions."**

_Hugo? Hugo Strange?_

"**I will take him up on his offer to come back to Arkham Asylum. He has promised to train me and modify my records using connections he has to some powerful people. Said he was part of some 'circle.'"**

_The Ninth Circle? That would explain why Caitlin didn't find a lot on him. _

**"He will teach me how to make a hero…by creating a monster."**

That last sentence did not sit well with William. The last monster Hugo Strange created was one that could counter the Batman, developed from years of newspaper clippings, reports, and anything else on him. A counter loaned to him by the League of Assassins. While it did fail, it showed the chinks in Batman's armor, both physical and mental. How they found out he was Bruce Wayne.

Still, William does feel a bit sympathetic for Deegan. To lose the people you love can drive anyone to do anything to make sure no one else suffers the same fate. He would know. But that does not justify Deegan's actions. Nothing will.

Curious still, he scrolls down and looks at the list of names. He clicks on the video labeled "Frieze," believing this to be Victor Frieze, aka Mr. Freeze. Instead, he sees a woman strapped on the table in this room. She struggles to break free from her binds but does not succeed.

"**Patient name: Nora Frieze," **Deegan's voice says. He steps out into the center of the camera, his full beard and long hair now grown out. **"Her spouse, Victor, was able to cure her of a cancer that is, according to specialists, impossible by today's medical technology. Upon examination, I have discovered a gene that has, in fact, froze the cancer entirely, preventing it from spreading further. A MUTATED gene."** He walks towards the table, next to a tray of tools. **"If my hypothesis is correct, then this gene may be a meta gene that, when awakened, can give her abilities as someone like that Killer Frost woman. A weapon for justice."**

Nora Frieze tries to say something, but a bandage around her mouth muffles her words.

"**Shhh,"** Deegan placates with a finger on her wrapped mouth. **"You should be proud. You are going to become the hero this city needs, unlike that new Bat PRETENDER."**

He walks past the tray and brings something that isn't in the office right now: a machine with wires attached to a headband. He slips the headband on Nora Frieze and fiddles with a few buttons. As the machine makes a whining noise, Nora Frieze starts to struggle even more, her muffled pitch high enough to be screams.

"**Trust me,"** Deegan says as he twists his wrist, presumably turning a dial. **"Once you've discovered your power, you'll THANK me."**

Deegan presses one more button, then the machine emanates a high-pitched buzzing noise. Nora Frieze now writhes, her muffled screams more intense.

Upon realizing what Deegan was doing, William clicked out of the video. He leans down, his forehead cupped in his hands. He feels his eyes unable to close, just as he can't shut out the horrors he just saw.

_He…he delivered shock therapy…in the hopes of activating a gene?! Was that Hugo Strange's manipulation or him finally becoming ins—_

Suddenly, William hears the door they came from open. He quickly ducks down and peeks his head out, seeing Oliver hug the wall just next to the bookcase he was looking through. Coming through the doorway is their target, John Deegan. He speed walks into the room, clearing his throat and composing himself. When he sees no one in sight, he looks everywhere quickly.

"Where is he? He was supposed to be—"

"John Deegan?" Oliver asks.

Deegan jumps, turning around and seeing the hero before him. However, instead of being scared, he lets out a laugh.

"The Green Arrow!" His voice sounded enthusiastic, eager even, as he walks backwards towards one of the display cases. "Oh, it is just an HONOR to meet you, good sir."

Seeing no imminent threats around, William stands up, but walks out cautiously. "You know who he really is?"

Deegan turns around, his grin becoming wider. "And I know who YOU are, William Clay—no, no, no. QUEEN. That's right. Changed it to honor your pops here. VERY noble indeed."

William raises an eyebrow. "You know who I am?"

"Oh, the Book showed me SO much about you," Deegan excitedly explains. "God's mortal champion. And I could see why, given who trained you. Good old—"

"Deegan!" William yells out of reaction. He pauses for a moment to take a calm breath. "I know what happened to you. To your wife. I understand your pain. But that doesn't justify your actions."

Deegan chuckles. "Well, YOU'RE one to talk. You thought your actions were justified by what you read in your little Bible. You thought you could just run off—"

"Deegan, stop!"

"Make your way towards Gotham—"

"SHUT UP!"

"And get trained by the FREAKIN' Batman HIMSELF."

William chokes on his next words. His fist clenches and his eyes close tight. The secret he has been keeping for years is now revealed, and his father, of all people, has heard it.

"What?" Is all Oliver asks.

William opens his eyes, turning to face a possible disappointing stare for keeping yet another secret from his father. But Oliver just looks stunned. It was like looking at a man whose beliefs have become undone in front of him.

"Oh," Deegan utters, ending it with a chuckle. "That's right. You promised to keep that from everybody else. Well, this is what you get for keeping a promise for a coward!"

Upon hearing this, William argues, "The Batman had a reason for hiding!"

"But you know what?" Deegan interrupts, moving back towards a table across from one of the display cases. "I have to thank him for that. For not coming to my rescue. To my wife's or my friends'. It made me realize the FLAW you masked vigilantes keep hiding. Sure, you save the day, stop crime and evil, but ONLY for moments at a time. All you do is keep it at bay. But me? I'm finding the diagnosis. To treat this BROKEN city."

"By torturing your patients?!"

"No Will. I am awakening their abilities. CONDITIONING them. I will create meta humans who will TRULY keep this city safe. TRULY maintain order."

"I saw your 'conditioning' in one of your videos. Torturing Nora Frieze. You were trying to make her into a weapon who kills without remorse. Giving criminals NO trial. NO chance. You would make her and others like her play judge, jury, and executioner just to fulfill some obsession for security. An obsession stemmed from fear…and trauma." William stays cautious, slowly walking towards Deegan. "If you want to do the right thing, do it now. Set reality back to the way it was."

Deegan shrugs his shoulders. "Hm. I could. But…" he puts on a mischievous smile. "Why would I want to?"

William and Oliver slowly inch closer towards Deegan, who just stays in front of the table.

"You know why I haven't brought back my wife? Why I didn't manage to get the Flash's powers or your father's martial prowess? It's because reality changing has a bit of a…learning curve. There's a lot of factors. So, I decided to start with something simple. That being my position and…" Deegan's hand reaches for the bottom of the table. "…Infrastructure."

Suddenly, an alarm starts blaring. It catches William and Oliver off guard, but their attention does not divert from Deegan. But then, the sound of multiple doors opening and people yelling in the hallway outside grabs their attention for just a second. In that second, Deegan runs, not towards the entrance, but another door on the opposite side of the room. One that William failed to take note of.

Acting fast, William throws an arrowhead at Deegan, intentionally throwing it wide as if to miss. From the front of it, a tracker shoots out and hits Deegan's shoulder as he exits.

Oliver was about to go after Deegan, but William stops him.

"He can wait. Check the hallway."

Both of them rush out into the hallway, finding all the cell doors open, no sign of any of the prisoners.

"Damn it," Oliver curses. "Deegan was just playing us. Now he's bought himself time."

"Deegan can wait," William says as he reaches into his pocket. He looks around him to make sure no cameras are around and places the comm in his ear. "You remember where we placed the suits?"

"I do," Oliver assures. "I'll get yours!"

Oliver speed runs out and then back in an instant. William then sees Oliver's silhouette blurring around him and feels his suit being placed upon him one piece at a time. As soon as his bow and quiver are placed onto him, Oliver heads out to get suits for the others.

As his visor runs a quick diagnostic, William unsheathes his bow and proceeds towards where the prisoners ran off to.

_Time to stop a mass breakout. _


	13. Chapter 12: The Battle of Arkham Asylum

**Author's notes: **Hello readers! A little while ago, I got a review asking about the appearance of Batman/Bruce Wayne in this Fanfic, specifically if I am using Kevin Conroy's likeness since he had a cameo in the "Crisis on Infinite Earth's" crossover. This is not the case since I see that Bruce Wayne as an alternate version with a different appearance.

The Batman/Bruce Wayne in my Fanfic is based on Scott Adkins, a martial artist and actor that some may know from movies like "Undisputed 3," "Ninja 2," and others. When I saw his movies, from the way he looks and how good he was in martial arts, I thought he would be a perfect actor for the role as Batman in a live action movie. So, this is a scenario in which Scott Adkins is playing as Batman.

I hope this cleared things up for the reviewer and all those who had a similar question. I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter and have a good day!

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Based on characters and references created by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!

* * *

Suddenly, as Kara and J'onn were about to enter the Warden's office, alarms go off all around them. Then, the cell doors behind them open up. All the prisoners rush out, either tackling down guards, using powers against them or each other, or finding the nearest exit.

"How did THAT just happen?" Kara asks aloud.

"It doesn't matter," J'onn responds. "We should change in the Warden's office and then contain the situation."

Kara gives a quick nod before they run off into the empty office. While J'onn changes into his Martin self, she quickly takes off her glasses and rips off her shirt, which hid the family crest of her super suit.

* * *

Barry casually walks around the asylum as he was told to do. Clark and Older Barry do the same thing, keeping the perimeter safe. That was until they hear faint alarms coming from inside the entrance they were just passing.

"What's going on?" Barry asks.

"Trouble," Clark responds with a firm, low tone.

Suddenly, a gust of wind enraptures all three of them. When it passes, Barry is in the Green Arrow suit and Clark and Old Barry are in their respective Superman and Flash suits.

"Guys!" They hear the voice of Oliver call to them. They turn around, seeing him in the Flash suit. "Deegan just released prisoners from their cages. They're all running rampant and there's a chance they'll get outside."

"What do you need us to do?" Superman asks.

"I need you to come with me Clark so we can link up with Kara and J'onn in the East Wing. Barry and Barry, stay here and detain any stragglers. William will fight the ones inside the West Wing."

"But you guys are facing a horde of crazy guys in there," Barry points out. "William can't possibly take down all of them alo—"

Suddenly, they hear what seems to be a jet engine above them. They all look up and see a black plane hovering in front of one of the top floor windows. From the plane come two shadowy figures, no doubt Kate Kane and Luke Fox, who break through the window and head inside.

"Don't worry," Oliver assures them. "He won't be alone for long."

* * *

As Red Arrow turns the corner towards the entrance, he sees about a dozen criminals beating down two armored yet defenseless guards.

_Guards won't last long. Need to take them all down quickly. First, jump in and fire three simultaneous concussion arrows._

Red Arrow takes a few steps back and takes out three concussion arrows before he runs and jumps over the stairway. Now in midair, he aims and fires the three arrows, two at inmates who were beating on the guards and one who was just watching it happen. As he lands, he takes down another inmate with a shoulder tackle that he rolls out of.

_Next, throw smoke pellet and take down as many as I can quickly._

Red Arrow puts on his face mask, turns around and throws down a smoke pellet. While everyone else is blinded, his detective vision quickly kicks in, showing him the remaining hostiles. He manages to take down five of the eight remaining inmates, one with quick punches to the gut and face, another with a throw and a punch once he is down on the floor, the third he leg sweeps followed by a concussion arrow, and the final two he rolls between to get behind them, grab their heads, and smash them into each other.

_Three remaining, One is unarmed, another with a shiv, and the last one has a pipe. The unarmed one is starting to charge at me. Good._

Red Arrow prepares himself for the inmate charging at him. But, suddenly, a batarang appears out of nowhere and hits him on the side of the head, knocking him out before he got too close. Not long after, someone clad in some familiar silver armor flies towards the inmate with the pipe, kicking him across the room. The vigilante quickly jumps on top of the inmate and knocks him out with a punch.

Before the inmate with the knife could react, another person in a familiar suit, this time a long-haired woman in black, grabs the wrist and spins them around. As the inmate becomes unbalanced, the vigilante aggressively angles his wrist downward, causing him to fall down in turn. She then twists it inward to disarm him of the knife and then kicks him in the face to stop the screams of pain he lets out afterwards.

As the fighting dies down, Red Arrow can now see both of them clearly, the Bat Symbols on their chests confirming what he already knew. Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, and Luke Fox, aka Batwing, just came to his rescue.

"Batwoman, Batwing," Red Arrow says with a smirk. "Took you long enough."

"Well, we certainly missed a lot," Batwoman sarcastically points out while she checks the pulses of the beaten down guards. "We arrive only a couple of minutes late and already a prison riot has broken out."

"This was all Deegan's doing," Red Arrow explains. "He's buying himself time."

"Do we know if he's in the building?" Batwing asks as he throws both guards over his shoulder.

Remembering the tracker, Red Arrow turns on his gauntlet's GPS and pinpoints Deegan's location.

"No, he hasn't. He's currently heading towards the bottom-right part of the Central Wing."

"That's in the direction of the evidence room," Batwing says. "Maybe that's where he's keeping the book."

"Well then you need to tail him," Batwoman says. "We can handle the rest."

Red Arrow nods, but also warns, "Still, be careful."

Batwoman and Batwing head towards the infirmary while He then goes to find Deegan, intent on stopping him from using the book to change reality again. Or worse.

* * *

Oliver and Superman arrive at the first cell block of the East Wing, where they are witness to a mob scene. Supergirl holds some of them at bay with her ice breath and heat vision, punching any stragglers that get too close. J'onn, meanwhile, turns into all sorts of forms, knocking them down and pushing them back towards their cells. Other prisoners are either blasting, throwing, or beating down any guard that tries to detain them.

"We need to get the pressure off Kara and J'onn," Superman says. "Speed in and take the knocked-out prisoners to their cells quickly."

"Got it," Oliver agrees.

Oliver heads in first, speed running towards the inmates on the floor and throwing them into the nearest cells. The gusts of wind he leaves behind confuse the other inmates and even threw a few of them off balance. Taking advantage of this, Superman flies in and uses his frost breath to his fullest, knocking a majority of them down. As soon as he stops, Oliver comes in and quickly throws them back into their cells.

"Superman!" J'onn calls out as he lands near them.

Superman places a hand on Supergirl's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Supergirl, with an assuring smile, nods and answers, "Yeah. Thanks for the rescue."

Across from them, they hear the yells of the inmates who were abusing the guards now focused on them. Oliver comes to a stop and says, "It's not over yet!"

One of the inmates up front shoots fire from his hand. Superman quickly stands in front of the blast, acting as shields. The fire sputters, making the inmates behind the pyro-meta afraid to move forward. But the meta slowly walks up to Superman, the width of the fire blast growing as he came closer.

"I'm invulnerable, but we can't outmaneuver them!" Superman yells. "You need to get around them somehow!"

"The fire's is blocking more of the sides by the second," Oliver points out. "I can't get around it."

"I have an idea," Supergirl says. "Grab onto my arm."

Oliver does as commanded. She then grabs hold of his arm, flies up and yells, "Try and land on your feet!"

"Wait! Wha—"

Before Oliver could ask, Kara throws Oliver over the fires and towards the back of the group. Trying not to panic, he looks towards where he will land and maneuvers himself to do so without breaking his legs.

As soon as his feet touch the ground, he turns around and takes out the guys one by one, landing solid punches since he is too fast for any of them to react against.

As soon as the flaming inmate reaches Superman, he stops and turns back yelling, "Now's your chance! CHAR—"

His words trail off as he sees Oliver punch out and escort the last inmate back to his cell. The pyro meta laughs nervously as he slowly backs away. He then runs to the last empty cell, screaming that he surrenders and begs them to not hurt him.

Superman chuckles. "I guess they're only brave when they have bigger numbers."

"Were they the only ones?" Oliver asks.

Supergirl shakes her head. "Some of them got out while we were preoccupied. They're not metas, but probably still dangerous."

"They're most likely outside by now," J'onn deduces.

Oliver looks out to where they entered, remembering that the only ones out there are both Barry's, and one of them only has some basic understanding of their abilities.

_Well, we can only hope the two of them have the situation under control._

* * *

Barry shoots another couple of concussion arrows, knocking more inmates out quickly. However, when he reaches into his quiver and draws the next arrow, he finds a sharp arrow in his hand.

_Oh, come on! Don't tell me I've run out._

He can see more prisoners charging at him. But before they could get close, Old Flash comes in and runs around and in between them. They twist and turn, flailing their arms around trying to hit him.

Barry can tell that this is just a distraction to give him time. So, he aims his sharp arrow and waits.

_Aim for the shoulder, Barry. Aim for the shoulder. _

As soon as Old Flash stops running, the inmates are disoriented, exhausted, and confused. An excellent window of opportunity. Barry shoots at an inmate's shoulder, which forces him down for a knockout.

_Now, pick up the pace a bit._

Barry gets a bit faster with each inmate, knocking them down one by one with a shot to their shoulders. With each arrow, he channels his dark emotions and trauma. The deaths of his mother, his father, his friends Ronnie and Stein, all focused into his aim.

Eventually, the last inmate goes down, all of them either out or groaning in pain. Barry takes a few deep breaths, feeling himself slowly becoming calm and his thoughts being pushed aside.

"You're getting better," Old Flash says optimistically.

Barry nods, but feels bitter after all the trauma that flooded in him.

_How do you do this Oliver? How do you deal with all this anger feeding at you?_

"**Barry, come in,"** Oliver's voice echos in Barry's ear, causing him to jump a bit. **"Is the outer perimeter secure?"**

Barry was about to get on his earpiece, but Old Flash beat him to it, saying, "All entrances are secure. We both saw to that."

Barry answers hastily, "Uh, yeah. What he said. Is the inside secure?"

"**We secured the East Wing. Kate Kane and Luke Fox found us and confirmed the same for the West."**

"And Red Arrow?"

"**Unknown. He went to the evidence room to get Deegan and hasn't radioed in since. I'm heading there now."**

"I'll meet you there." Barry turns to Old Flash. "Can you get these guys to their cells?"

Old Flash nods. "Leave it to me. Now, get going."

With that assurance, Barry quickly runs back inside, hoping Red Arrow is okay.

* * *

Deegan rushes down the stairs and towards the shelf full of his collectibles, or what the idiots in this Asylum called evidence. He crouches down and takes out the large box which is labeled "DO NOT OPEN," which he wrote to dissuade any curious eye from touching his prized possession.

He removes the lid, laying his eyes on the book given to him by the powerful entity. He can feel strands of it's power emanating already as he picks it up. He grips the book tightly, giggling.

"Here you are," He whispers excitedly.

"That's funny," A familiar, female voice says.

Deegan jumps and turns around, seeing a few of his subjects in front of him. Jonathan Crane, Victor Zsasz, Edward Nigma, and Nora Frieze stare him down with snarls and devious smiles.

"We were just about to say the same to you," Nora finishes, summoning a wisp of ice from her fingertips.

"Riddle us this, John Deegan," Nigma asks as he retrieves his cane from the shelf. "Who is staunch, more egotistical than I, and about to get what he DESERVES?"

Deegan slowly moves back. "S-subjects. Y-you don't understand. What I did, I did for the betterment of you and all of Gotham."

"And yet you infected me with my own formula OVER and OVER," Crane angrily says as he takes out a bottle of his fear toxin and his scarecrow mask from the box with his name labeled on it.

"B-but the overexposure eventually made you immune," Deegan points out. He then points to Nora Frieze. "And you Nora, I awakened the potential inside you."

"I NEVER wanted these powers!" Frieze yells, the wisp of ice turning into a mini snowstorm. "And I never consented to your 'experiments' on me."

"Or on me," Zsasz adds, scrapping two shivs together as he approaches. "You locked me in a room with nothing but slideshows of criminals and reasons they must die for HOURS."

"Which was more than you deserved!" Deegan yells in a fit of rage. "I thought I could actually make you into a DECENT weapon against crime, when really you should have been given the death penalty a long—"

Suddenly, Deegan feels something grab the back of his leg and trip him. As he falls, the Book of Destiny slips from his fingers and flies towards one of the shelves on the wall. But also, he sees William Queen, dressed in his Red Arrow persona, his bow aimed and his other arm close to his body. He quickly looks down and sees an arrow, it's shaft somehow strong enough to trip him. Deegan looks back and sees Red Arrow shoot another arrow at the ceiling just above him.

"We don't care about your reasonings," Jonathan Crane says as he puts on his mask, which looks to be a straw bag with eye holes cut out of it. The blank canvas for someone's fears to appear on. He slowly opens his bottles of toxin as he says, "We just want to see you suffer and then END your miserable life. So tell us, Dr. Deegan. What is it that you—"

Before he could finish, the arrow on the ceiling shoots out and grabs Deegan by his shirt. It then proceeds to whisk him away, leaving him dangling high above everyone.

* * *

_Deegan's out of the way. Now to focus on the four inmates. Three normals, one meta. What's worse, that meta is Nora Frieze, who Deegan experimented on in the video. Somehow, his experiment succeeded. She'll be a liability. Luckily, I still have two of the power dampening arrowheads with me. But Crane still has fear toxin and Nigma's cane carries a hidden blade. Zsasz doesn't have anything new up in his sleeve besides the shivs. Still, I can work with this._

_First, approach with grapple arrow. Maneuver around Frieze's blasts until I am in range for the power dampening arrow._

Red Arrow shoots out one more grapple arrow and jumps from the stair railing, letting himself glide towards the group of villains. As expected, Nora Frieze blasts ice from her hands to try and land a hit on him. He swings side to side, avoiding each blast until he is nearly above them. He then takes out his power dampening arrowhead and disconnects the rope from his bow, falling just before Nora Frieze's last blast reaches him.

_Next, throw power dampening arrowhead in between the group._

As Red Arrow falls, he throws the arrowhead at the floor in between all of them. The energy field emanates and cloaks itself in a blink of an eye. He lands right next to it and in front of Nora Frieze. She tries to freeze him, but no ice appears from her hands. Still, she struggles to try and summon her power.

_First, take down Frieze, since she will be a distraction in the fight, even without her powers._

As Frieze looks at her hands in confusion, Red Arrow gets up and employs an uppercut to her face, which knocks her out almost instantly.

_Scarecrow next, so his fear toxin does not come into play._

Red Arrow grabs Scarecrow's hand just as he was about to slam the toxin vial to the ground and infect them all. He quickly yanks the vial away and knee strikes Scarecrow in the stomach before pushing him onto the side of the shelf behind him.

Just then, Zsasz tries to slice Red Arrow's throat with a vertical strike. He dodges it and rolls towards the shelf to quickly put the vial back.

_Now to get one other villain out of the way, preferably Zsasz, to deal with the other quickly._

Luckily, Zsasz attacks again, this time with a lunge. Red Arrow traps the wrist and, with one swift motion, kneels down and uses Zsasz's momentum to throw him far away.

Nigma, as expected, removes the ball from his cane to reveal a small, sharp blade. He takes the staff part in both hands and makes a lot of quick but predictable stabs. Red Arrow dodges or blocks them with his gauntlets. On the fifth stab, Red Arrow grabs the cane and pulls at it, which brings Nigma towards him. He then delivers an uppercut to the gut followed by a push kick that sends Nigma flying.

Hearing an angry grunt behind him, Red Arrow turns around, ready to fight who he thought was Zsasz. Instead, it is Scarecrow, who retrieves his toxin and throws it towards Red Arrow. He dodges it and quickly tackles him down. When he rolls out of it, he turns around and delivers a punch to the face, neutralizing him for good.

Just then, Red Arrow hears Zsasz charging in again, but no lunge this time. He just swings his shivs wildly, either being insane or just hoping that the blades will hit something. Red Arrow, as with Nigma, dodges and parries all of them to find an opening.

_Huh. Despite looking wild, his slashes are similar to patterns often found in the katas of Kali. Which means I know how to disarm him._

As Zsasz comes in with a vertical swing, Red Arrow blocks it with his arm and guides it in a downward arc. He grabs Zsasz's arm with his free hand before disarming the knife with a hammer fist.

Zsasz then tries to go for a downward stab to the neck. But Red Arrow quickly grabs the arm and throws him to the ground. He then takes Zsasz's wrist and twists in inward, forcing him to let it go and scream in pain. The screams are silenced with a hook punch.

With every villain down, Red Arrow starts to catch his breath. But then he hears someone yell "STOP!"

He looks over to where Nigma is, his hands reaching out for something.

"Please! One more!"

Red Arrow then notices shards of glass near Nigma's face, the bits of Crane's name scattered all over. But he does not see the gas that usually emanates when the fear toxin is released. Most likely, this batch was not potent enough to spread around a large area.

"I AM the superior intellect. I AM! I can solve your puzzles. They are NOT IMPOSSIBLE!"

Red Arrow, anticipating something like this happening, takes out a syringe containing the antidote from his belt. He walks over to Nigma, who is now on his side, curling into a ball and sobbing.

"They're not…I'm not…"

He crouches down and carefully injects the antidote into Nigma's neck.

"I'm not…smart…"

Nigma passes out before he can finish. Red Arrow presses his fingers to Nigma's wrist, feeling his pulse going from insanely fast to normal speeds. Nigma then begins to breathe steadily.

As for Red Arrow, whatever pity he felt for Deegan and his past slowly diminishes. But he tries to not let it eradicate entirely.

_Deegan is just as broken as these guys. But…Deegan has made them even more broken than before. _

"Excellent work!" Deegan shouts from up high. "I wouldn't expect anything less from someone trained by the Batman."

Ignoring him for the moment, Red Arrow goes over to where the book is and picks it up. He then taps a button on his gauntlet, bringing Deegan down fast. He stops the rope just as Deegan reaches the floor. But almost immediately, he starts laughing.

"Was that an intimidation tactic?" Deegan asks as he is lifted up to Red Arrow's level. "You know, you really have to vary your interrogation methods, because that's, like, Batman style 101."

"Tell me how to use this!" Red Arrow demands, holding the book up.

"Or what?" Deegan questions with an amused smile. "You'll take me for another joyride? I did quite enjoy it."

"I have PLENTY of ways to make you talk, and you won't like what I—"

"_William."_

A whisper of his name catches Red Arrow off guard. He looks around, but sees no one but himself, the knocked out villains, and Deegan.

Shaking it off, he continues, "As I was saying, you don't want to know—"

"_William."_

The unknown voice appears again, this time echoing louder. The voice is that of an adult female, but it was not Nora Frieze's voice or anyone else here. This voice, however, is still familiar to him.

"_William."_

Suddenly, from the bottom corner of his eye, Red Arrow sees a blue wisp. He looks down and sees the book letting tiny flickers of its power loose, almost like how it did when Deegan opened it.

"Interesting," Deegan says. "This is different from when I used it. It seems to call to you when it was the sheer power of it that drew me in."

Again, Red Arrow shakes his head and then points at Deegan. "No. No, this is a trick!"

"This is no trick William," The voice calls once more. This time, it comes from somewhere next to him. He turns around, seeing…

"Mom?"

Red Arrow's jaw drops at the sight of Samantha Clayton, his long dead mother, looking the same as she did the day before she died. No scars, no bruises, no burnt skin from the explosions.

"Mom?" Deegan asks, looking towards where Red Arrow is, seemingly not seeing what he is seeing. "The book draws you in with the image of someone YOU lost? Why?"

"Open the book William," Samantha gently commands.

Red Arrow takes a step back, doubting the person before him. "Your…you're dead. You're not real. Besides, what will I possibly gain from opening this thing?"

Samantha walks closer, but he does not dare to move away.

"You'll find me," She answers. When she is close enough, she slowly places a hand on the book. "Open it son. Let me see you again."

He looks down at it, seeing more and more wisps appearing. He wants so desperately to resist the temptation, but finds the prospect of seeing his mother just once more irresistible. His hand inches closer to the first handful of pages.

_Don't…DON'T do it. It's not real. She's NOT real. It's not…_

His hand grabs the pages, but he does not open the book. He stands there, unsure of what to do.

_Don't…just…_

He feels a hand on his cheek. His mother's hand, gently touching his trimmed face. It feels so real for something that is not supposed to be. For someone who's supposed to be dead.

"Go on," She says in her gentle tone. "I'm waiting for you."

_I…I…_

He looks up to his mother, who is still giving him a warm smile. He sheds a tear of joy. Somehow, in some form, she is here.

Without any more hesitation, William opens the book, which shoots out a surge of energy from its pages.

* * *

As Barry enters the room, he sees Red Arrow with the Book of Destiny in his hands. It is releasing blue energy as it did with Deegan in the memory the Monitor showed them. Deegan is also there, hanging from a rope arrow by his coat while the current of energy blows him away.

Barry then feels the gust of wind behind him, but not something from the book. He turns around and sees Oliver, looking at Red Arrow with a concerned stare.

"What's he doing?!" Oliver yells over the rumbling of the wind.

"Get us down there and we'll find out!"

Oliver nods and does as Barry asks, grabbing his arm and running straight towards Red Arrow.

As they near him though, the energy's strong current slows Oliver down. It becomes a struggle to take just a couple of steps.

"William!" Oliver calls out. "William, what are you doing?!"

Red Arrow, somehow able to hear them, turns to them with a smile of amazement on his face. One almost similar to Deegan's when he opened the book, but less sadistic.

"I see her Dad!" William shouts. "I see Mom!"

Barry and Oliver look at him with widened eyes.

"What?" Oliver silently asks.

"I can bring her back! She can come back! She…" Red Arrow's smile slowly droops into something more downcast. He looks down at the book and asks, "But…but at what cost?"

Suddenly, the gust of wind from the Book begins to slowly diminish, making it easier for Oliver and Barry to take a few more steps. Inch by inch, they get closer, but the gust of wind still tries to push them back. When they are at arms length, they both reach out for the book, just barely able to touch it.

"It'll take both of us to get the book away from him!" Barry points out.

"Alright!" Oliver acknowledges. "On three. ONE! TWO! THREE!"

In perfect synchronization, Barry and Oliver thrust their hands out, grabbing the top of the book with their fingers.

And then…


	14. Chapter 13: Burdens of a Hero

**Author's Notes:** Hello Readers! Sorry that this chapter took longer to release, but this has, so far, been one of the longest chapters to write, at least in this story. Also, I have a lot more going on right now in my life. But I thank you all for your patience.

Also, since my last chapter, I have gotten a few questions regarding the story. I don't want to answer all of them because it means spoiling the story. But I am more than happy to answer a couple of them here.

"**How many chapters are left for this story?": **I don't have a set number of chapters for this story. I know what I want to write and how I want to end the story. This is just going to take as many chapters as it gets to reach the finish line. However, I can say that this story is a little more than halfway done.

"**Did you hear that Supergirl Season 6 will be the finale season of Supergirl?": **Yes, I have. But as I said in a previous chapter, I have not watched a lot of Supergirl. I'm more of a Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow fan. I only really watch Supergirl for the crossover episodes. However, I do hope that the last season of Supergirl ends well and that the fans will be satisfied with the conclusion.

With those out of the way, I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Based on characters and references owned by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!

* * *

"Zoom! Take that, Captain Cold."

That is the first thing Oliver hears after touching the book along with Barry. Yet, somehow, he feels no book. He doesn't see it or William holding it. He just sees his hand on a wall, which somehow looks familiar.

He turns around to where he heard the voice, seeing a child playing with Flash and Captain Cold toys.

"Stupid Flash! You won't be able to run far when I freeze you in place!"

When the boy lifts his head up for a second, Oliver recognizes Younger William's face, looking as menacing as his Captain Cold impersonation.

"William?" Oliver calls as he removes his mask. William doesn't respond, still playing with his toy.

He reaches out and tries to place a hand on William's shoulder. However, the hand goes right through, as if William is a ghost. Oliver then waves his hand through him, making sure that this isn't a trick.

"I don't think he's real," Barry says.

Oliver jumps a bit, forgetting that Barry, who removes his hood, was even next to him.

"I think when we touched the book, it sent us into William's head. This is one of his childhood memories."

Oliver looks around the room. He starts to recognize the drawings and pictures of animals, the picture of the Central City Diamonds, and the poster of Flash Day.

"This is William's old room in Central City," Oliver says. "Why would it bring us—"

"I have no idea what you're talking about Oliver," The familiar voice of Samantha Clayton denies.

They all turn around, noticing the open door that leads out into the upstairs hallway.

"You must be mistaken."

"Samantha," a past Oliver insists. "I have proof. I know that William is my son."

"Dad?" William silently whispers. He jumps up, a joyful smile on his face, and runs out of the hallway and towards the stairs.

"Oh no," Oliver says in a horrified tone. His eyes widen as he repeats, "oh no, no, no, no, NO."

Oliver runs out to follow William. Fortunately, William hasn't gone far, only looking from a place where he can see the long hallway that leads into the kitchen.

"Oliver!" Barry calls out as he catches up. "Oliver, what's going on?"

"I know that you're going to say that me meeting him is a bad idea, given how he was…born," Past Oliver explains to Samantha. "But I know a friend whose father was sent to jail, framed for the murder of his mother. He had a foster father and sister to look after him, but he NEVER had his real father for most of his life, and it affected him. I don't want that to happen to William. He NEEDS a father. Please."

Samantha looks away for a moment, staring outside one of the windows. Oliver remembers that there was a Father playing catch with his son out in the neighbor's front yard, which probably helped solidify Oliver's argument. He remembered how she closed her eyes, clenched her fists, and let out a heavy sigh. Probably because she knew that Oliver was right. Or she was preparing herself to ask him to do the hardest thing Oliver has ever done.

She turns back to past Oliver and asks, "If you really want to see him that much, will you do exactly as I say?"

Oliver nods. "Anything."

Present Oliver, while watching, looks over to William, still wearing that bright smile, waiting to greet the dad he had not seen in years.

"Don't say it," present Oliver silently pleads, dreading over what is going to happen next. "Not with him here."

Despite these pleas, Samantha says, "William is never to know that you're his father."

The smile on William's face fades. He frowns at the direction of his mother, probably confused as to why his mother is doing this.

"And you are not to tell ANYONE about William," Samantha continues. "These are my terms. You're already asking the world from me. I'm just asking the same from you."

Present Oliver, looking at William's now stunned face, leans over the railing and yells, "Don't agree! DON'T AGREE, DAMN IT!"

His words fall on deaf ears. Past Oliver is going through the motions. He closes his eyes, silently contemplating the choice presented to him. When he is done, he sighs silently.

"All right," He agrees in a soft, regretful tone. "I won't tell anybody. Not even Felicity."

Present Oliver leans his head down onto the railing, both his hands grasping the back of his neck.

"Damn it," Oliver curses under his breath.

"It's a nice name," Samantha comments.

"She's a good person," Oliver responds. "She's the best."

"William is upstairs in his room playing. You are just a friend of Mommy's."

As much as he hated to do it, Present Oliver forces himself to look towards William once more to see just how he was feeling. But William is gone, probably in his room pretending to play with his toys.

"Oliver," Barry softly says, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "You didn't know."

Oliver doesn't turn back. His mind is too wrapped around what just happened…and what has happened since.

"I have been visiting William…once a week."

Oliver turns to Barry, who looks at him with sympathetic, narrowed eyes. But that didn't help Oliver at all.

"I made him go through…who knows WHAT hell…so he could see his father."

He pushes away from the railing. He then closes his eyes tight and runs his hands through his shaven hair. "I just…I just don't know how he would've gone through that and not argue with his—"

As he looks up to the ceiling and opens his eyes again, he sees something that he didn't see before. There are words inscribed in fire that say:

"**She should never have done that!"**

"Oliver. The floor."

Oliver looks down, seeing more flame induced sentences where William once was:

"**Why did she do that?!"**

"**She's depriving me of the father I've been waiting for. Why?!"**

"**Keep it in. Don't say anything. Find out what's going on first. But can I?"**

"Are these William's thoughts?" Barry asks.

* * *

Before Oliver could comment, He finds himself and Barry no longer in the hallway, but the kitchen. Day has somehow turned into night, no father and son playing catch next door.

"What just happened?" Oliver questions.

"I think we moved forward in time," Barry answers unsurely. "When we are, I don't—"

"Come on William," Samantha's encouraging voice echoes behind them. "Eat up."

Oliver and Barry turn around, seeing William and Samantha seated at opposite ends at the table. Samantha's plate, covered with salmon, green beans, and mashed potatoes, is halfway finished. William's plate, which was fish and chips, looks as if it was barely touched.

Samantha asks, "Are you okay? You've barely said two words to me for weeks."

William looks at Samantha with what looks like a neutral stare at the surface. But Oliver can see the subtle glare on his face, one similar to what he gave Oliver after his outburst at Barry.

"Can you tell me what happened to Dad again?" William asks.

Samantha does not say anything for a moment. Her hand slows to a crawl as her fork pierces into a piece of Salmon. But she clears her throat and maintains her composure.

"Well, like I said, your father's in a better place."

"You mean Star City?"

The sentence freezes her hand in place as she is about to take a bite. She raises her head, her mouth still slightly open as if unable to close.

"Living his life with another woman because you drove him away?"

Her hand trembles, almost to the point of dropping the fork.

"Yeah. I know Oliver Queen is my dad. I've known ever since you made him make that STUPID promise!"

"I-I-I…" Samantha is jumbling her words, not knowing how to respond. "I-I didn't think you were listening."

William shoots up from his table and yells, "That's your excuse?! No 'I'm sorry?' No 'I was wrong for trying to keep your dad away from you?'"

"William," Samantha pleads, raising her hands up defensively. "Please calm down."

"You know, I've been imagining how this reveal would happen for a while! This was NOT what I wanted!"

"William, there are certain things you wouldn't understand."

"Like how I was born?"

Samantha's eyes grow wide as if ready to leave their sockets.

"Yeah. I heard dad say that too. I looked up ALL of the ways a child can be born. I've prepared myself for all the explanations that you're not giving me!"

"Because I didn't want to explain!" Samantha blurts out. "I didn't think I'd have to. You seemed fine."

"Well, I wasn't! Every time Dad visits, I have to PUSH DOWN the urge to call him that. To give him a hug and tell that I know. To tell you that your promise can go to hell!"

"Don't you DARE use that language," Samantha commands, sitting up quickly. "Especially with me. I am your mother!"

"And you're a lousy one!"

William's insult cut her deep, for she freezes in place and says nothing more. Oliver feels nothing but resentment, a tear flowing down his cheek. Whatever Barry is doing or feeling, Oliver doesn't care.

Without another word, William runs away from the table and towards the stairs.

Samantha follows suit, calling, "William! William wait!"

"Oliver," Barry says cautiously. "Oliver, I know this looks bad."

"Looks bad?!" Oliver shouts as he turns to Barry, who jumps and takes a few steps back. "I drove a WEDGE between my son and his mother!"

"You didn't know that he listened to the conversation," Barry points out, taking a couple of brave steps forward. "And it was Samantha who forced you into that agreement."

"And you were the one who lectured me on how dangerous it was to mess with time!" Oliver refutes. "If anything, I should've just left them alone. Maybe then, they wouldn't be arguing."

"But it wouldn't have protected William from being captured," Barry once again argues. "Besides, he may have found out one way or another and they would still argue. Stuff like this just happens Oliver, even between family."

"And just how would you know that William wasn't still mad at her?"

"Because I HATED living with Joe because he was involved in my dad's arrest. But I grew to appreciate what he and Iris did for me, the hole that they filled. If your son was still angry with his mom, why didn't he run away?"

Oliver places his hands on his hips and breathes a heavy sigh before admitting, "I don't know. But I don't want to—"

* * *

Almost immediately, everything became pitch black, the only source of light being rays reflected by the moon. From the rug, Oliver can tell that he and Barry are back in William's room.

Not long after they arrive, the door opens, the hallway light revealing William opening and shutting the door quickly. He locks and then sits against it, huddling his legs close to his body and placing his forehead on his knees. He almost looks as if he is about to cry.

All the while, Samantha knocks on the door, pleading, "William! William, please open the door."

Just then, more fiery words formed on the floor, saying:

"**I don't want you to come in!"**

"**You're nothing but a liar!"**

"**I hate you!"**

Oliver, wishing that he can comfort William right now, can only whisper, "Bud."

"I know William," a different yet familiar voice says behind them.

The words fade without a single wisp of ash left behind as William lifts his head up and Oliver and Barry turn around. At the corner of the room stands a shadowy figure that none of them can see clearly. But Oliver feels like he's seen this man before.

"Parents can do stupid things sometimes," the man continues as he walks from one side of the room to the other. "But we do it because we want to protect our children."

The man's face is finally revealed by the moon light as he nears the window. The face of Malcolm Merlyn.

"William?" Samantha calls again, this time with a concerned tone. "William, who is that in there?"

Oliver turns around, seeing William stand up very slowly and flip on the light switch. Malcolm, fully revealed, is in his usual League of Assassins outfit. The same one he wore as the Dark Archer.

William's lips tremble as he says, "W-who are you?"

"My name is Malcolm Merlyn, an old friend of your father's."

William begins to ease up when he hears Malcolm Merlyn's explanation.

"And I've come here, William, because we both share a great pain."

"What pain?"

Malcolm kneels down and continues, "I have a daughter. Thea. Your aunt. Your father's half-sister. That would make you my half-grandchild."

William's eyes widen slightly, but they do not express total shock. For all Oliver knows, he could be doubting Malcolm's claim, even though it's true.

"Yes William. Like you, your Aunt Thea's ties to me were kept hidden by your grandmother. As I am sure she convinced your mother to hide all ties between you and your father."

William's eyes widen even further, almost ready to pop out at any moment if given even more news.

"Even though I still had a son of my own, I still missed out on a daughter, on you, because your grandmother was too afraid to express the truth to me. I never got to treat Thea like family until later in life. But you shouldn't have to with your father."

William stands firm, trying to look braver than he really is. "What do you want?"

"To give you what you want William," Malcolm says. "A chance to see your father. No pretending. No lies. Just you and your father."

Just then, Oliver realizes what is going on. "Wait a minute. This was the night Malcolm kidnapped William and brought him to Damien Darhk." Oliver's eyes furrow as he looks over to William. "But…Samantha said that William was playing in here. She said she didn't hear anyone take him."

"Why would she lie?" Barry asks.

Before Oliver could say, Samantha yells, "William! Whoever is in there, do not go near them."

The muffles of something fidgeting the lock can be heard behind the door.

"William," Malcolm calls, extending his wooden hand, "You're not going to get another chance at this. She is NOT going to let you see him. EVER."

The muffled fidgeting stops, followed by Samantha saying, "William, I'm coming in!"

Hearing this, William steps away from the door before it opens. In comes Samantha, holding a sharp kitchen knife. Her eyes widen when she sees Malcolm, who stands up quickly and smirks.

"Malcolm," Samantha whispers with despair.

"Hello Samantha," Malcolm greets her almost welcomingly. "It's been too long."

William expresses the same confusion as Oliver and Barry do as he asks, "Wait. You know this guy Mom?"

"Oh, there's a lot your mother knows," Malcolm vaguely explains. "Things she will never tell you."

Samantha extends a hand to William, "Sweetie. Come here. This man is dangerous."

"William," Malcolm calls out, extending his hand again. "I would never lie to my family. That includes you. THIS is your only chance."

William does not immediately go to his mother. He looks to her, then to Malcolm. Back and forth over and over.

Meanwhile, Oliver shakes his head.

"Don't do it," Oliver begs. "Bud, don't do it."

To Oliver's dismay, William rushes to Malcolm's side.

"William," Samantha loudly whispers with the same despair.

"I want to see Dad," William says, his voice almost choking.

Samantha is about to lunge at Malcolm, but stops when he says, "Touch me…and the men outside will make sure you never see your son again."

The blade is still steady in her hand. Her lead foot looks ready to charge in again. But she eventually drops the knife, slouching in defeat.

"Tomorrow night, Damien Darhk will show evidence to Oliver Queen that he has William in his custody. Until then, you are not to go to him, any vigilantes, or the police."

As Malcolm and William head for the window, William looks back at his mother, who is about to cry. He doesn't say anything to her. He just looks at her blankly while Malcolm helps him through the window.

On the roof, Malcolm places a hand on William's shoulder and says, "You WILL see your father again. —"

* * *

"—I promise."

The scene quickly changes again. They are no longer at William's house. They're outside of someone else's, standing near the front door. Oliver and Barry look down, seeing William look towards something opposite them.

They look and see a sight now familiar to Oliver. A past him, wearing the sleeveless variation of his suit from a few years ago. He is standing on a brick part of a long driveway.

Oliver now knows that this was the day that he saved William from Damien Darhk. But this feels different. Like something important is supposed to happen.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the Green Arrow is gone, replaced by Oliver wearing the tan jacket and blue jeans he wore the day he met William at his home.

"No," Present Oliver utters, his eyes widening. "He…he couldn't have. How?"

More flame inscribed words on the brick pavement reveal the answer:

"**His face…it's covered up, but it looks like…"**

The words disappear as sirens approach their vicinity. Past Oliver nods to William, grabs his bow from the ground, and retreats. William looks on, new words being etched into the road.

"**My Dad…is the Green Arrow?"**

"He knew," Barry states, almost stunned. "William knew."

Oliver wanted to deny the claim. His strongest instinct was to say that the book was fooling them. But one quote stood out in his mind. Something William said to him when he was being tortured by Dr. Parker that he brushed off before.

"_When I found out who you were, what you've done, all I wanted was to be like you. Be the hero I knew you were."_

* * *

When Oliver snaps out of his thought, they are in a minivan. He and Barry are in the back seats while William occupies the middle and Samantha drives.

"How long were we in here?" Oliver asks.

"Not…very long," Barry answers with a bit of confusion. "Were you distracted or something?"

Oliver shakes his head. "Just…remembering something."

"You were right," Samantha says out of the blue. "I was wrong to keep your father from you. But I did it because I wanted to keep you safe."

"Malcolm Merlyn said something similar," William points out in a low, indifferent tone.

Samantha nods, but doesn't go further into it. Instead, she pulls the car over the side of the road. Looking outside, they seem to be in the middle of nowhere with nothing but grass fields surrounding them.

She takes a very subtle sigh and says, "I didn't live an ordinary life William. It was filled with secrets, lies, and…other things I'm not proud of." She turns around to face him. "I thought that one lie would have been the exception. To give you an ordinary childhood, to grow up and be a good person making good choices. But I hurt you. Hurt you in ways I thought weren't possible."

William doesn't look up. He keeps staring at the Green Arrow action figure in his hand.

"I know it's hard for you to forgive me, and I don't expect you to right now. But I am making you this promise. When you're old enough to understand, I will tell you EVERYTHING you want to know. After that, whether you forgive me or not…is your choice. Does that sound good?"

William keeps looking at the toy. As he does, more words form on the rug floor of the car saying:

"**What would you do Dad?"**

"**You entered one deal with her, and that turned sideways."**

"**But…she sounds serious."**

As the words disappear, William nods and says, "sure."

"Good," Samantha says silently.

She puts her hand on the gear but does not put it on drive yet.

"Just…one more thing. Did Malcolm Merlyn say anything to you about your father?"

When she finishes the question, a sentence forms on the floor.

"**Don't say anything to her about Dad being the Green Arrow. This is the one thing she won't take away from me."**

Upon seeing it, Oliver shakes his head in despair.

"No. William, don't think like that."

Unfortunately, William just shakes his head and says, "No."

Samantha does not try to probe him further. She just puts the gear on drive and resumes the trip down the road.

"Can we find a martial arts place when we get there?" William asks. "So I can learn defend myself?"

Samantha swallows hard, obviously not keen on the idea. But she smiles and agrees, "Sure. I think we can do that."

After the discussion, one more sentence appears on the floor:

"**I'll be as strong as you the next time we meet Dad. I promise."**

Oliver lets out a saddening sigh. "William. You didn't have to be."

* * *

Suddenly, Oliver and Barry find themselves standing in what seems to be a gym or dojo. The floor is one large placemat and a shelf in the corner contains sparring equipment such as gloves, helmets, and shin pads.

"Remember, keep your guard up," a vaguely familiar voice says to a bunch of boys doing one vs one sparring. "But don't stay on defense for too long. Find the opportunity and take it."

Oliver looks over to who is talking. He already recognizes the crew cut the man is sporting, but the cuts on his face make it a bit hard to confirm his identity. But Oliver has no doubt in his mind who this martial arts teacher is.

"Ted Grant," Oliver utters aloud.

"You know this guy?" Barry asks.

"I do. He was a boxer and vigilante who trained Laurel in self-defense before Nyssa did. Last time I saw him, he was hospitalized. Never saw him again, but Laurel did tell me that he left Star City for a much simpler lifestyle. But why show us him?"

"Oliver."

Barry's hand points to the left side of the gym, where William is locking one of the other students in an arm bar.

"Nice work Mathew," Ted praises. "Now apply pressure, but not too much. You don't want to break his arm, just enough to make him tap out."

William does just that, lifting his upper body just enough that it makes the student's face scrunch with just how much pressure his arm is feeling. Eventually, the student taps out, which prompts William to let go.

"He trained your son," Barry points out. "You think William found him again later in life?"

Oliver shakes his head. "Unlikely," he deflects, remembering that William was keeping his trainer, Batman, a secret.

Just then, a bell sounds throughout the room, causing all the students to stop.

"The day's over," Ted announces. "Next week, we'll be applying both standing and ground techniques into sparring."

William is about to head through the door, but is stopped when Grant calls to him, "Not you Mathew. I need to talk to you for a sec."

"Why does he keep calling William that?" Barry asks.

"That must have been the name given to him during his time in witness protection," Oliver explains.

When the other students have left, William asks Grant, "Am I doing something wrong?"

"Not at all," Grant answers as he kneels down. "In fact, you're doing a lot better than the other students around here. I'm just wondering if you had any prior experience."

William shakes his head. "Just Bruce Lee movies."

Grant chuckles. "Right. But still, were any of your parents martial artists? Your father perhaps?"

William hesitates to answer for a moment. Eventually, he answers with, "I wouldn't know. He wasn't part of my life growing up."

Oliver can't help but cross his arms and let out a subtle sigh, knowing how true William's statement is.

"I'm sorry," Grant says. "I didn't mean to pry."

William smirks. "It's alright." He then heads out the door, saying, "See you next week."

Grant doesn't say goodbye back. Instead, he places his hands on his hips, watching William exit with Samantha with a raised eyebrow.

"You think he knows?" Barry asks.

"He at least suspected something," Oliver answers. "Even so, I don't think Grant would do anything to William or Samantha even if he—"

* * *

The gym either changes overtime or they are somewhere else, because it becomes as large as a town hall. Suddenly, arrows start flying in front of them, a few of them hitting the stationary bullseyes across the way while most of them miss. However, only one hits the target dead center.

"Very good Mathew," another voice congratulates. However, it is not Grant's. They look over to see a man in his 50's, looking a bit plump, but still fit. He wears a black sweatshirt and shorts, a somewhat common attire for gym coaches.

In front of him are students wearing various t-shirts and shorts, holding short bows in their hands. One of them is William, who is across from the arrow that hit the center of the bullseye.

"Third one in a row," The coach continues. He looks at the watch on his wrist and nods his head. "I think we'll conclude practice here. You all can get going." As the students leave, he reminds them, "Remember, there are sign up sheets for the archery team if you're interested!" Then, like Grant, he calls to William. "Matt. I'd like just a couple minutes with you."

William walks over to the coach, who kneels down with a smirk.

"You've been practicing outside of the archery club. I can tell."

William shrugs his shoulders. "It's just an appealing sport."

The coach nods. "I know it is. And…I know your Mom disagrees with the proposition I gave her last time. But you can convince her to just give the archery team a try. If you don't like it, then you can just leave. No problems."

William hesitates to answer, biting the back of his lip as if to put a wall around his answer. More words are inscribed onto the gym floor, saying:

"**As much as I want to, I need to respect my Mom's wishes. For now."**

Finally, William shakes his head. "I'm sorry. I can't."

The coach's smirk widens. "Well, I thought I'd give it a shot. Now get going. You don't want to miss your bus."

William runs off for the locker room. As soon as he is out of sight, the coach's smirk, for some reason, turns into a frown. He gets up, takes out a cell phone, and calls up somebody.

After a moment of silence, the coach says, "William won't budge Deacon. Tell Prometheus that the kid's all his."

Oliver's eyes widen in horror the moment that he hears the Deacon's name uttered. The same Deacon who is in charge of the Ninth Circle, the people responsible for hunting down Samantha after she refused to give up William to them. And yet, somehow, they knew he was here and, to that extent, Samantha as well. And worst of all was the mention of Prometheus who, as William told him, the Deacon was partly responsible for making, as well as Diaz.

"No," Oliver whispers in shock. "That would mean—"

* * *

Before he could say it, Oliver and Barry are teleported again, this time facing the open doors of a school bus. William is the only one who exits the bus before it goes on to its next stop.

"William," a voice that Oliver hoped to never hear again calls out nearby. He and Barry see the man that ruined William's life, Adrian Chase, stop William as he is walking.

"My name is Mathew," William quickly denies before passing Chase and continuing down the sidewalk.

"But it used to be William, right? Before you and your mom left Central City?"

The mention of his mother must've interested William, because he stops and turns around, showing a raised eyebrow.

"William, don't," Oliver pleads. "Keep walking."

"You know my mom?" William asks Chase.

"No, but I know your father." A smirk forms on Chase's face. "And he knew mine."

Suddenly words form on the ground again, saying:

"**This has happened before."**

"**He'll capture me like Malcolm did."**

"**Warn the couple across the street then run."**

Oliver nods his head in approval. "That's it Bud. Don't fall for it."

"Don't try it William," Chase warns as William is about to yell out to the couple. "They're with me."

Oliver and Barry look over to the couple in question. The man is someone Oliver doesn't recognize, but the woman is another story.

"Talia," Oliver utters with mild anger in his voice.

The purple coat, hat, and scarf cover most of her appearance, but Oliver recognizes her stare. However, it does not show determination, but rather worry. Yet Oliver can't figure out why.

"I'm need you to come with me William," Chase demands, holding out his hand. "I won't ask again."

William stands there for a moment, not even twitching. Oliver can't tell what William is thinking, nor does he care.

"Run William," Oliver pleads again.

To his dismay, William walks towards Chase slowly. However, Oliver notices that he is slowly curling his fingers and thumb behind his back. Words form behind him as he approaches:

"**The guy's guard is down."**

"**Punch him, like Mr. Grant showed us, then run."**

"**If that doesn't work, kick the shin."**

When William is close enough to Chase, he throws his arm out to employ a cross to the face. Unfortunately, Chase blocks it and pushes William down before he could kick the shin as planned.

Oliver begins to run towards them, wanting to stop Chase from kidnapping William. But before he gets very far, Barry wraps his arms around him tight.

"No Oliver! It's not real. There's NOTHING you can do."

Oliver tries to break free, but Barry is persistent. He is forced to watch as Chase approaches William and reaches his hand out to grab him. William delivers a kick to the face before raising his arms and legs up into a defensive position.

Chase flinches a bit, but just laughs it off. "You have your father's fighting spirit." He grabs both of Williams legs and drags him in order to grab his neck. "But you barely have his skill."

Chase raises his fist up and prepares to knock out William. Seeing this, Oliver throws all his weight down to get Barry off of him quickly before running towards them.

"No!" Oliver yells as he lunges towards Chase's wrist. But as a twisted reminder of their predicament, his hand goes through it as if it were nothing but a hologram.

* * *

The sound of a punch transitions them to someplace dark, cold, and empty. It almost reflects how Oliver feels as his breathing slows to a crawl, almost ready to collapse onto the floor. He had to force himself to turn around and see William, who is chained to a stone wall with no apparent emotion on his face.

"Oliver," Barry calls after getting up. "There was nothing you could've done."

Oliver doesn't respond. He just bows his head in shame.

His guilt trip is interrupted by the door across from them opening, revealing Adrian Chase. He walks in with the Green Arrow toy in one hand and a knife in another. Oliver snarls at him and what possible harm he will do to William.

Walking in after him him is Talia. On the surface, she looks neutral, level-headed. But the rubbing of her hands behind her tells Oliver that she is trying to hold something in. Something she is not comfortable with.

"Talia here tells me that you never said anything while I was gone," Chase says. "Not even a request to see your mom."

William looks down at the floor, choosing to say nothing. But the words appearing in front of him say it for him:

"**You probably won't let me anyways."**

"I understand," Chase appeals. "I hated my mom for years when I found out who my dad was. Hated her for keeping secrets. We're alike that way, you and I. In fact, we're more—"

"Screw you!" William utters, looking up to Chase with a scowl.

Chase only scoffs at the remark and then proceeds to hold up the Green Arrow toy. "They found this in your backpack. My guess is that you take this everywhere you go. A way to keep your father close to you." He tosses the toy towards William and with his free hand takes out a piece of paper out of his pocket. "I do the same with a photo of my father." He shows the picture of his father, Justin Claybourne. "Always feeling like he's watching me. Every fight, every kill. Like he's there on the sidelines. Even in death. Even when your father KILLED him."

Oliver can hear the silent growl in Chase's voice when he said the word "KILLED." It is as if a scar was never healed, even when Oliver told him that Claybourne was going to disown him.

"If he got killed, he must've deserved it," William said unapologetically. "My father wouldn't have done it unless he felt like he had to."

Oliver, hearing William say that, shakes his head. _No William. Don't say that._

Chase chuckles as he puts the photo in his pocket. "Really?" He walks towards William as he takes out a cell phone from the same pocket. "Because I have something that says otherwise." He turns the phone around and turns it on. "Your father's confession."

Oliver's eyes grow wide, realizing what Chase is talking about. He walks over to William's side and looks at the video. He sees himself in a cell, shirtless, Adrian Chase staring him down, and Evelyn laying beside them after faking her death.

Barry walks over to them as well, asking, "What is it?"

"This was when Chase tortured me," Oliver explains. "I didn't even know that it was recorded."

"**You've told yourself that you kill because you have to,"** Chase says in the video. **"CONFESS Oliver. You don't kill because you have to. So why? Why do you do it?"**

"**Because I wanted to,"** Oliver in the video responds weakly.

"**What?"**

Oliver bows down in shame. **"I wanted to."** Finally, he stands back up and yells with all the strength he has left, **"I WANTED TO! AND I LIKED IT!"**

William looks at the video in horror, not saying anything.

Chase, however, is smiling. "It took HOURS to get the truth out of your father."

William very slowly looks to the toy in front of him and says, "Dad…"

"THIS is what you were aspiring to. A cold-blooded killer!"

"Shut up!" William yells. "My dad would never—"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you not believe the proof right in front of you? Do I have to play the video again until the fact is hammered into your brain?!"

Chase rewinds the video back to the point Oliver yells:

"**I WANTED TO! AND I LIKED IT!"**

Chase does this again,

"**I WANTED TO! AND I LIKED IT!"**

And again,

"**I WANTED TO! AND I LIKED IT!"**

And again,

"**I WANTED TO! AND I LIKED IT!"**

William turns away and tries to bring his hands up to his ears. But the chains prove too short. Oliver, meanwhile, clenches his fists, but tries his best to remember that, as Barry said, this has all happened before. There is nothing that either of them can do except watch. The fact just infuriates Oliver more.

"He has heard enough!" Talia demands.

Chase turns to her with a glare but does not object to her. He finally turns off his phone and sets it down on the floor.

"So you see," Chase begins. "Your father is no hero. He kills with no discrimination, all to fulfill some sense of 'justice.'"

William lowers his hands, but keeps his head turned away.

Chase grabs William by the jaw, forcing him to look back while saying, "You still want to be like your old man?" He then flips the knife in his hand with the blade facing him. "Well, here's your chance."

Chase forces William to grasp the knife with both of his hands and raises it to the center of his neck. He points to Talia and explains, "She has been instructed to let you and your mother go if you do just ONE thing." After raising a finger to indicate the number, he places it on his neck. "Kill me."

William's hands tremble at the request.

"Kill me!" Chase commands, bringing the blade closer. "Just one stab, Right into my neck!"

William tries to bring his hands away, but Chase's grip is too strong. Talia's leg begins to twitch a bit, as if she wants to intervene but can't for some reason. She then turns her head away and closes her eyes.

William tries to plead, "I…I don't want to!"

"Yet you want to be like your old man! You can't do that without first spilling blood. Do it!"

The last thing Chase says triggers a memory in Oliver's mind, when he had Chase in a chokehold, primed to break his neck, and Chase urging with straining breath,

"_Do it! Do it Oliver. Show everyone who you really are!"_

William has the same face that Oliver did at the time. A face of conflicting answers, the urge to take the kill that Oliver kept resisting. The same gritting of his teeth as the blade slowly draws closer as the grip of his hold became tighter. It was like a mirror, only these are different circumstance. But that also meant that Oliver knew where this was going to go.

"_N_O!" Both of them echo.

With all his might, William flings his upper body forward until his forehead connects with Chase's. The head butt makes Chase flinch more than William's kick from the kidnapping, loosening his grip on William's hands. The knife falls to the ground, stainless.

William huddles and rubs his head, whimpering "No" over and over, which may be a substitute for "Ow."

Chase, while rubbing his head, gets up and says, "You must really hate your mom for all the lies she's told you. Because you ruined your chance of EVER seeing her again."

Chase turns to Talia, who looks surprised at the outcome. He seems to ignore it, for he walks past and commands, "Take him to the boat! I have to prepare for Oliver's arrival."

Just as Talia is about to walk to William, she freezes. So does Adrian Chase.

"What's happening?" Barry asks.

"…_He knows EXACTLY who his father is,"_ Chase's voice echos just as Oliver was about to say something. _"Just as you learned who your father was…"_

Oliver and Barry look everywhere, the voice having no discernible origin. When they look back at Adrian Chase, he is somehow gone, as is Talia.

"_He's younger than you were, so he'll be fine. And you'll have each other. And that's GOOD, Oliver. That's good."_

It was with that last sentence that Oliver remembers the moment when those words were spoken. But they should be outside of the island, on a boat with Oliver holding William in his arms.

"Because it's going to be so lonely without Mom."

The voice is now discernible, but, strangely enough, it is right next to them. They see Chase sitting where William once sat, holding a loaded pistol to his head. He looks up to Oliver with a smirk on his face.

"And Felicity."

"No, Adrian!" Oliver shouts, his first reaction being to reach out and try to disarm the weapon.

However, it was too late. The gunshot follows with blood spraying onto the wall and Chase leaning downwards on his side. Oliver feels that he can't do anything except look on with shock. Barry looks at this the same way, but his jaw is not dropping to the floor as Oliver's is.

Suddenly, the distant sound of explosions can be heard across from them. They become louder and louder when, eventually, a rage of fire starts tearing the side cell walls apart. Barry and Oliver try to retreat through the door, but more fire appears on the other side of the cell, gaining on them fast, and traps them in the center of the cell_._

As the fires engulf Chase's dead body, Oliver and Barry close their eyes, preparing for the worst to happen.

* * *

However, Oliver feels nothing. He opens his eyes and sees nothing but pitch blackness all around them. No sounds, no explosions. Just the stillness of whatever setting they are in now.

"The bad man was in my dream," the young voice of William says.

Oliver and Barry find him sitting on the edge of a bed with a past version of Oliver kneeling in front of him. Oliver remembers this from when William had a nightmare about the "bad man," aka. Oliver himself. The day when William blamed him for Samantha's death.

"He's why my mom's gone."

"Well, he can't hurt you anymore William," Past Oliver assured him. "He's gone."

"No, he's not," William refuted.

"I'm confused buddy. Where do you think the bad man is now?"

As before, William slowly points to past Oliver. But, for some reason, the image of Oliver freezes, not regressing to the face of guilt he had before. Yet William is still animated, still pointing shakily.

"Oliver," Barry calls from the end of the bed. "Look."

He points to a mirror Oliver had not noticed before; an accessory William never had in his room. Oliver walks to where Barry is to get a good look at the reflection. In it, there is no reflection of him, his past self, or Barry. There is only…

"Bud," Oliver utters in horror. "No." He quickly walks over to where his past self is, which fades into ashes as he walks through it and assumes the same kneeling position. "William, I know you can hear me. You have to be. Please listen. You are NOT the bad man. Do you hear me? It was my fault." He clutches the side of the bed as he yells, "It was my fault!"

"Don't lie to me!"

Upon hearing another voice behind him, Oliver gets up quickly. He and Barry see Older William in place of the mirror. However, he is not in his Red Arrow suit. Rather, he is wearing a white colored outfit with red streaks that run along the back of the sleeves and the hood behind him. His legs are covered in knee and shin pads and his hands are gloved in black leather.

"Do you know how hard it's been? Forcing the blame onto you for so many years? To have all of this guilt bearing down on me?!"

Oliver walks to William, arguing, "No. William, NONE OF IT is your fau—"

"STOP IT!" William yells. "Stop using yourself as a shield! Just shut up!"

Oliver stops himself from talking further, worrying about William becoming angered even more.

After taking a few breaths, William continues, "Now I have this one chance to avert Mom's death…" Suddenly, blue energy forms in William's hand. It takes shape and then manifests itself into the book of destiny. "…thanks to this."

Oliver shakes his head. "But the Book didn't work for Deegan."

"It can for me. The book has shown me how, as well as how to get you out of here. Experience the new reality I will give us. A life where Mom is ALIVE." William stretches out the book to Oliver. "You have seen the pain I have carried. PLEASE."

Oliver opens his mouth, but no words come out. He was going to refuse to do it, saying that there is no telling what can happen. But now something in his mind is telling him that, as harsh as William's judgement against himself might be, he has been making a lot of good choices as a hero. Maybe he is right about this too. Sure, he is angry now. But who wouldn't be with all that guilt inside of him?

New words start to form inside Oliver's mind. Words of agreement. And Oliver was about to say them.

But suddenly, Barry snatches the book away.

"No."

Oliver looks at Barry with confusion.

William, however, gives him a snarl. "What?"

"I know your pain William," Barry sympathizes. "More than you could know. I changed time because I couldn't handle the pain of my parents dying in front of me. But doing so came with consequences."

"He's right," a deeper, modulated voice agrees.

Behind William, younger William and the bed are gone. In his place is Adrian Chase, fully suited as Prometheus.

"You," Oliver says with a growl. He walks up to Prometheus, getting up in his face and yelling, "You don't get ANY judgement in this. You're the reason Samantha is dead! Her blood is in YOUR HANDS!"

"You're right," Prometheus agrees somberly after a few moments.

This does not just confuse Oliver, but shocks him. Prometheus does not retaliate nor does he give any lecture about how everything he touches dies.

"But before you make your verdict, see the rest of it."

As shocked as he is, Oliver does not deter from his anger when asking, "The rest of what?"

"Oliver!" Barry calls. "The Book."

Oliver sees the Book of Destiny floating into the air and opening itself up. As when William held it, blue energy spills from the pages. It enraptures everything, including William and Prometheus, and then…

* * *

"Then you can't solve it," A distant voice says.

Oliver and Barry see darkness once again, but not just pitch black. The ground below them is made of rock and there are a few drops of water coming from the ceiling above. This is obviously a cave. But when they look around more, they see gadgets, a supercomputer, and other stuff that suggests a hideout much like the Bunker in Star City.

"Where are we now?" Oliver asks hastily. "What happened to—"

"He wouldn't have done it to keep us away," Another voice tries to reason.

Oliver and Barry find Kate Kane and Lucius Fox fiddling with something very similar to the teleport machine in Star Labs. However, the computer looks different, showing lines of text that may be computer code.

"He wiped out any mention of a solution and our overrides aren't working," Kate points out frustratedly. "And now these lines of code are so nonsensical that even you can't make heads or tails of them."

"I said I recognize what program this is," Lucius explains. "The code, however, is all over the place. There are key misplaced words that should go with the others, but they're just not."

"Have you tried treating it like a Rubik's Cube?"

The voice of Younger William grabs everyone's attention. He is standing just feet away from a lift that brought him down here.

"You." Kate walks up to William with a profound scowl. "I thought I told you to go back home."

"I have no home here," William admits.

"Then where is home?" Kate asked.

"You weren't subtle when leaving. I knew that you had some idea of where the Batman is. I want to see him, and I'm going to whether you like it or not."

While Kate hesitates, Barry comments, "William told us that Kate and Luke saved them. This must've been that night."

"Hold up," Lucius interrupts them. "What did you say about a Rubik's Cube?"

William walks past Kate, who looked like she was going to grab him, but stops herself as soon as he was out of reach.

"My stepmom. She's a computer genius," William explains. "She once told me that an algorithm is like a Rubik's Cube. They're complex and can be solved in various ways. You just have to be creative."

As Luke ponders on this, Oliver can see a smirk on Barry's face. "I somehow knew Felicity rubbed off on him."

Oliver can't help but slightly smirk as well. "Yeah, me too."

Luke, snapping out of his deep thought, walks back to the computer. He looks at the lines of code again, his eyes darting from word to word, especially the ones indicated by the message box as errors. He then looks over to Kate.

"Kate. I think this was meant for you."

Kate, with a raised eyebrow, approaches the computer and looks at the lines. After examining them for a while, her eyes widen.

"Wait a minute," she says. "I think I know some of the solutions." She starts pointing at a couple of the words. "Those words there on that 'what/if' line, 'balance' and death should be 'Alice," and 'Beth.' And that set statement there with the jumbled-up words is a bar I used to go to before becoming Batwoman."

She kept pointing at these glares in the code until she had no more input to give.

"Holy crap!" Lucius exclaims. "This is literally a program based on your vigilante life before he left. Amazing!"

"Try it," Kate commands.

Luke presses the enter key and the lines of code disappear. The two of them wait for something to happen with anticipation while William stands a few feet behind them, fiddling his fingers. Finally, a message appears, saying, _"You solved it Kate. Congratulations."_

Suddenly, the teleport machine opens a breach, which startles everyone. Out from it comes someone wearing a dark grey suit with a black bat plastered on the chest, as well as black gloves, boots, and cowl with short, pointy ears. To top it all off, all of it is made of the same, flexible metal and mesh as Willam's Red Arrow suit. The appearance is more than enough information to know who this is.

"HAHA," Barry shouts in excitement. "I knew it! I KNEW Batman was real."

The Batman, the supposed teacher of William, immediately takes off his cowl and turns to them, revealing a face that Oliver is surprised to see. The last person he would've expected to see as the Batman.

"Bruce Wayne?" Oliver says, almost in astonishment.

"Wait," Barry interjects. "Bruce Wayne? As in Kate's cousin?"

"Bruce," Kate repeats with joy.

She walks up to Bruce and they embrace in a hug. From the expression on Kate's face, It has been a long time since they ever did.

"It's good to see you Kate," Bruce greets her with very subtle glee.

As they break off the hug, Lucius walks up to him with a hand extended out. "It's good to see you again, Mr. Wayne."

"You too Luke," Bruce responds as he takes Luke's hand and shakes it.

Bruce's eyes then fall upon William, who has been standing there in amazement since his arrival. However, Bruce looks at him with a firm yet concerned stare.

"And why are YOU here?" Bruce asks.

William snaps out of it, barely able to form words at first. He eventually say, "Uh, m-my name is—"

"You're William Clayton," Bruce interrupts. "Oliver Queen's son."

All of them, including Oliver and Barry, are stunned that Bruce even knows this.

"That's Oliver Queen's son?" Luke asks.

"I didn't know he even had a kid," Kate admits.

"He was captured by Damien Darhk a few years back. I was going to plan a rescue, but then the Green Arrow, his father, did so beforehand."

"You knew about Damien Darhk?" William asks. "How?"

"You didn't answer my question William," Bruce deflects. "Why are you here?"

William pauses for a moment, probably wondering whether to answer him or to probe him for more answers. After a few seconds, he speaks again.

"Batman—uh, Mr. Wayne, sir. I came all this way to find you. To ask something of you. Star City, my home, is in shambles after it was wrestled from a criminal named Ricardo Diaz. My father is in jail for being a vigilante."

"If you're asking for someone to protect your home city, I can't simply just go there and—"

"That's not what I'm asking," William detests. "Friends of his are still there. People who fought alongside him for years and I am sure can protect the city until he comes back."

Hearing this makes Oliver smirk again, glad to know that William had confidence in Diggle, Felicity, and the others.

"But…I partially blame myself for what happened to Star City."

Oliver's smirk quickly fades.

"I've been a burden on my father. Being kidnapped twice, him having to raise me while trying to be a vigilante. I don't want to be that anymore. I want to be just a strong as he is. Just as SKILLED. To be of help."

Bruce nods his head. "I see. And you want me to train you?"

William nods his head in return. "That's what I've been hoping."

Bruce takes a moment to examine William, Oliver unsure of what he is trying to find. He then kneels down before continuing, "Listen William. Training to become like your father, me, or a vigilante in general…it's not something that can happen in a matter of months. It takes YEARS of hard work and dedication. It's not an easy path, and I don't want to force that upon you."

Suddenly, William clenches his fists. At first, Oliver thought he was about to angrily strike out for the lecture he was given.

"Most things these past couple of years have been 'FORCED' upon me. I had to pretend my dad didn't exist when I found out he DID. I had to go into witness protection because MY DAD made a decision to hand himself in on his own, without any input from me or my stepmom, who sent me away when Ricardo Diaz found us!"

Oliver closes his eyes tight and turns his head away. The dreadful memories of that day run through his mind, or at least the events as played out in this timeline.

"I ran away from my boarding school because I CHOSE to! In fact, it felt like the FIRST choice I've ever had. And I've come all this way—"

"Did you run away because of your fear of becoming a burden?" Bruce asks. "Did that drive you all this way?"

When Oliver looks back, William's fiddles with his fingers again and taps his foot. "What does that have to do with—"

"Fear. Guilt. Anger. All of these emotions can drive us to make rash decisions."

"I wasn't being rash!"

"You RAN away, miles from your boarding school. The fact that you're still alive tells me that you're already resourceful or you have God on your side."

William doesn't say a word back, closing his lips tight.

"The small book in your sweatshirt pocket," Bruce points to the bulge in William's sweatshirt. "Either a notebook or a Bible. Have you even read it? How about the tale of the father and his two sons?"

William slowly nods. "I read the parable. The younger son runs away when he's given his half of the inheritance. But he eventually goes back."

"Because he starts to regret the decision he made. He wanted to be a servant to his father to make up for it but was welcomed back with a feast. As a SON. You will have that same regret, run back to your family and beg to come—"

"I CAME HERE…" William pauses for a moment. The breath he takes is raspier than calm, but it looks like he regains some composure. "I came here because they're better off without me right now. They may deny it, but it's true! This was the BEST thing for them."

Bruce looks at William with narrow eyes for a long while.

"You're not afraid of being a burden," Bruce finally says. "Your fear is that those you love will get hurt because of you. Because it happened once before."

William's legs begin to look wobbly, small tears forming on his face. Still, he tries to look as tough as he can.

Bruce puts a hand on William's shoulder. "William. You can't run from fear forever. You must face it. CONFRONT it."

"H-how?" William asks, his voice breaking a bit.

"First, take a few more breaths. Calm yourself."

William does as asked, taking a few relaxing breaths that steady his legs and dry his tears.

"Now, close your eyes."

* * *

When William closes them, Oliver and Barry are taken to another unfamiliar location. It looks like some kind of large warehouse, boxes stacked by the dozen next to one end of a conveyer belt. Next to the boxes are men opening them and taking out weapons and drugs. Across the way are more of the men unloading them from a large ship onto the conveyer belt.

"Come on men!" A brutish voice calls out. "I want these in the streets of Gotham by tomorrow. Move your lazy asses!"

Oliver clenches his fist when he sees the face of Ricardo Diaz, alive and well. However, there are noticeable strands of white hair on his head, which is curious. What's more, he says Gotham, not Star City.

"_Now, take all of your fear, guilt, and anger,"_ the voice of Bruce Wayne continues. _"I want you to form them into something. Something that reminds you of all those emotions."_

Suddenly, a scream is heard from where the boxes were being unloaded. One of the guards that is inside the ship is gone.

The other guards over there ready their guns and slowly make their way into the ship, keeping eyes on every corner. However, the lights above them go out. Lights from random gunfire light up the hold, showing one man dodging the bullets and taking them down one by one. A man in a dark hood.

"Don't just stand there!" Diaz orders. "Shoot!"

The men near him grab guns and mags from the crates, reload, and aim at the open area of the ship. They empty their clips where the hooded figure was last seen. Afterwards, they reload again and wait for any sign of movement.

"_Something that fills you with dread when you see it. Evokes your greatest fears."_

After half a minute of nothing, a smoke bomb drops into the group, enveloping them all in its cloud. The hooded man drops in afterwards with a grapple arrow. Oliver and Barry can't see a thing, but they can hear the criminals screaming in pain before being silenced by brutal knockouts.

As the smoke dissipates, the only ones remaining are Diaz and…

"_A face."_

…Prometheus, standing right in front of him, bow in hand.

Diaz takes out a pistol from his side and aims, but Prometheus reacts by disarming him with a…

_An Arrowhead? What the hell?_

When Diaz flinches, Prometheus comes in with a hook and cross punch to the face. He then wraps an arm around Diaz's waist and throws him to the ground.

Prometheus quickly mounts Diaz to ensure no escape and starts throwing a flurry of punches at him. Diaz blocks all of them but finds no room to retaliate. Eventually, Diaz throws all his strength from his hips and arms to throw Prometheus off. As Diaz goes for a side lock, Prometheus shrimps out of the initial attempt. He then shoots out his right leg, kicking Diaz in the face, which leaves a bloody nose, but he recovers quickly.

As Prometheus gets back up, Diaz charges at him and locks them both in a struggle. Diaz keeps pushing, trying to pin Prometheus into the pillar behind him. But as they near it, Prometheus jumps onto the pillar and quickly flips over Diaz, breaking the hold.

As Prometheus gets up from his landing, he elbows Diaz's face, stunning him. He then turns Diaz around and pins him to the wall, launching blow after blow everywhere from the torso all the way up to his face, each punch becoming slow and ruthless.

But when Prometheus swings his bow, Diaz grabs it and throws it to the side next to a crate near them. He then goes for a hook, but Prometheus slips underneath it and counters with a cross to Diaz's nose, making it bloodier than before. With Diaz unbalanced again, Prometheus grabs one of his arms and throws him to the ground again.

As Diaz gets up, he takes out a knife from his pocket and tries to sneak in a stab to the chest. Prometheus, however, is quick to step away, trap the wrist and twist it inwards, disarming and grabbing the knife from Diaz, who screams in pain. Prometheus then wraps his arms around Prometheus and, with all his might, throws him once more, this time into the crate next to his bow. This one must have proved to much for Diaz, for he is out the instant he stops skidding on the floor.

Victorious, Prometheus grips the knife in his hand, ready to strike the killing blow. He starts breathing heavily but does not walk to Diaz and plunge the knife into him. He might be planning to throw it, yet he seems hesitant to do anything. Whatever reason that may be, Oliver can't seem to figure out.

"_Prometheus,"_ William's voice says, his voice almost breaking again. _"Adrian Chase. He wanted me to kill him, saying it would free me and my mom. I refused to do it."_

"_Why?"_ Bruce asks.

"_Because…because a toy of my dad as the Green Arrow was there. It was facing me, like Dad could see what I was doing, wondering what I would do. I knew…I knew he was a killer before, but…a video I saw over and over…it showed me that he regretted it. I knew that the last thing he would want was for me to kill anybody. But…it got my mom killed. I'm responsible for her death."_

"_Then you know the burden of a vigilante's life. We do not just have the choice to save lives, but to become judge, jury, and executioner. The choice between the life and death of another. But that shouldn't be up to us. Our goal should be to stop criminals, not to execute them. If your mother was a good person, I'm sure she would've wanted you to make the same choice, even if it was her life on the line. So tell me now. Would you take back what you did, if you could?"_

There is a slight pause. Chase still does nothing, but his breathing slows, almost sounding calm.

"…_no."_

Finally, Chase…drops the knife. Just like that.

_But…Chase just went through a lot of men to fight…wait a minute. When is this even taking place? Diaz never had any white hair any time we—_

Suddenly, the sounds of sirens catch his attention. Quickly, Prometheus goes and picks up his bow and shoots a grapple arrow at the ceiling. It quickly whisks him away as the cop cars come into view.

* * *

Suddenly, Oliver and Barry are on a rooftop looking out into a bay. Behind them, they here the sound of a hatch opening. Coming out of it is Prometheus, who closes it and quickly sits down. He quickly removes the hood and mask, which reveals…

"No."

Oliver's eyes widen when he sees that the face behind the mask is not Chase's, but William's. He holds the mask out in front of him, looking at it with a neutral stare.

"_You have faced your fear,"_ Bruce's voice congratulates. _"Confronted your demons. But that was only one battle. If you intend to be under my tutelage, then you will learn to wield fear, make the face in your head your own, to make criminals share your dread. That is what I will teach you."_

Out of nowhere, Batman, now wearing his suit and cowl, walks up between Oliver, Barry, and William. He extends a hand invitingly and smirks.

"_Do you still want to go down this path?"_

William smirks back and, without hesitation, takes Bruces hand.

* * *

An almost blinding light flashes in front of them, forcing Oliver and Barry to shield their eyes. When the light starts to dim, they see only William, still wearing the Prometheus suit, the mask clipped to the side of his suit. Under his arm, he carries the Book of Destiny.

"William," Oliver says in a low tone, regretful for all the insults just a few minutes ago. "I—"

William raises a hand. "Don't Dad. You know the truth now. Both of you do."

Barry walks up next to Oliver, asking William, "You were trained…by the Batman?"

William nods.

After a little while, Barry laughs joyfully. "That is so awesome!"

William smirks and shrugs his shoulders in response.

"How did you even think to look for him?"

"Comics. He was my favorite superhero before you showed up. When I was in boarding school, I heard rumors from Gotham kids saying that they saw him, that he was back in the city. I debated whether to go or not for a while. But, when I brought a school bully to justice, or someone I thought was a bully, I knew what I wanted to do. I took the chance after I uploaded a video exposing him and, after a tumultuous journey, got to Gotham."

"But you never got to Gotham City," Oliver remembers. "Younger you was kidnapped. What we saw was—"

"The original timeline," William answers. "I dropped younger me off with Bruce after saving him to preserve my timeline. In the original, as I said before, Kate and Luke saved me. When I saw that they had bat insignias on their chests, I lied about living nearby to follow them and…well, you know the rest."

"No," Oliver objects. "You knew Clark and Lois the instant we were there, like they were lifelong friends. Knew we were at the Kent farm. You wouldn't have unless—" Oliver pauses for a few moments, realizing what happened after William and Bruce's first meeting. "Bruce didn't stay."

William shook his head. "He went there to retreat. One of his greatest nemesis' hit him hard, leading to his financial downfall and to the death of a few of his family and friends. He found Earth 38 and discovered that its Bruce died, but it was not publicly known. He used it to his advantage, took on his identity, and remained there, leaving behind a puzzle for Kate and Luke that he would activate once he saw that the city was doing fine with them in it. But you're right, he didn't leave just yet. There was much on Earth 38 that he had to finish."

"So he brought you with him," Barry deduces. "For how long?"

"A few years, until his work was finished. He kept ties with Clark and the Earth 38's Batman Inc. He even sent me there to do missions with them from time to time. And…one on my own."

Oliver, remembering the white hair on Diaz and that they were in Gotham, not Star City, asks, "So, that Diaz you faced was—"

"An Earth 38 counterpart," William finishes. "Just as vicious and cruel. It was a graduation of sorts, to see if I was worthy of being on my own. And…to see if I could keep a level head and make the right call. And I passed."

"But…" Oliver places his hands on his hips and his eyes narrow at William as he asks, "As Prometheus?"

"To master your fear, you must become it," William explains. "Make your enemies learn to dread what you dread. But that night, I thought to myself that I didn't want people to fear Prometheus anymore. That's not who I was. So, I made a new face in my head. One that could bring fear into the hearts of criminals as Prometheus did. The face of—"

"Red Arrow," Oliver figures out. "Your current suit was the result."

"Not entirely," William admits. "The mask was a lot more—"

"ENOUGH OF THIS!"

Barry, Oliver, and William turn around and see, strangely, another William. The one in the white hooded outfit.

"I will hear no more," other William says with an angry gaze. "You'd rather our mother be DEAD! And for what?"

"Wait a minute," Oliver interrupts. He then points to the William next to them. "This is the real William. So who are you?"

"He is me," Red Arrow explains. "He's the part of me that wants to make the changes to the timeline with the book, regardless of the consequences that lie ahead. He's beginning to turn into the person we will be if it happens."

"What conse—"

Oliver stops himself when he sees, in the other William's hand, a sword that he didn't have before, covered in blood. Clipped to his side is a mask of a demon, something similar to how William described the Deacon's mask.

_He joins the Ninth Circle? But what would…_

He then remembers what Adrian Chase tried to make William do. What William refused to do. And realized that there was only one way that William's mother could survive.

"You killed Chase. You did exactly what he wanted. What the Deacon wanted. You became a pawn for the Ninth Circle. You began killing for the Deacon and Dante!"

"I would kill the Deacon and Dante!" The other William proclaims.

The eyes of Barry and Oliver widen in shock.

"I would grow tired of their differences. Their BICKERING and CONSTANT arguments. They held me back! I would remove the obstacles and help the Ninth Circle and Order of St. Dismas rise in power, as the ultimate bringers of justice! I would become AZRAEL, the killer of evil!"

"But our mother would not approve," Red Arrow refutes. "If we go through with this, we become what she strived to keep us away from."

"But she is there! That's ALL that matters to me."

"Even though she will become more distant from you? Blaming herself for the path that you chose? You don't want her alive because you love her, but only to tell yourself that the first kill was worth it!"

"She still lied to me!"

"And you think killing Chase is what?! a form of punishment for her?!"

"Enough!" Azrael flicks his sword downwards, the blood disappearing into the pitch-black ground. As he walks towards them, he raises his sword and says "I won't continue this USELESS argument further. I'm taking the Book of Destiny and changing my fate."

"No you won't," Oliver declares.

Azrael stops and lowers his sword slightly. He whispers painfully, "Dad…"

"I won't see you become a monster," Oliver explains. "Barry's right. We can't change time, not with the consequences." He then turns to Red Arrow and tells him, "Get us out of—"

Before he can finish, a shuriken pierces Oliver's leg. Another hits Barry's. As Oliver clenches the wound, Azrael quickly charges in and push kicks Red Arrow into the ground. Red Arrow rolls out of it quickly, but Azrael rushes in again and grabs one end of the book. Red Arrow does not let go, resulting in a tug of war between them.

"Give me the book," Azrael demands. "Give it to me!"

"No!"

Oliver quickly takes out the shuriken from his leg. While there is a sharp pain, the cut heals quickly because he has Flash's powers. Looking at the tug of war going on, Azrael opens the book, the blue energy surging from the pages as before.

"William!" Oliver calls out, running in as fast as he can to grab the book before anything else happens.

But it is too late.

* * *

After a light envelopes them all, Oliver sees his hand grasping a familiar looking tree. He looks around, finding themselves in a dense forest he starts to recognize.

"Lian Yu," Oliver pinpoints.

"Which one of the Williams brought us here?" Barry asks as he gets up, no shuriken in his leg.

"Most likely both," Oliver deduces. "This was where their ultimate choice was made. They might try to finish their struggle here."

Out in the distance, Oliver can hear grunts, both of them modulated.

"Which they're doing right now," Oliver tells Barry. "We need to help William."

As Oliver was about to speed run, an arrow appears right in front of him, into the tree. A black arrow.

"You're not going anywhere gentlemen," a familiar voice insists.

Barry and Oliver look to where the arrow was fired, seeing a couple of people they thought they would see again. Malcolm Merlyn, sporting his League of Assassin's outfit, and Eobard Thawn, red lightning sparking from his yellow suit and phasing to the point where his face is almost a blur.

"Not while we're here," Eobard finishes for Malcolm, his super speed altering his voice.

Before Oliver and Barry could react, Thawn comes in charging in, taking Oliver away, and Malcolm readies another arrow to fire at Barry.


	15. Chapter 14: Conflicting Destinies

**Author's notes: **Hello Readers! I just want to take the time to answer a couple of questions about the last chapter that came up recently.

…**is the Azrael William real or is he part of William?** Azrael is a part of William that wants to save his mother, knowing that it means killing Adrian Chase, becoming a cold-blooded killer and being resented by his mother. Red Arrow is William, who is trying to resist the temptation by showing his progression as a vigilante and how he became a better person from being one. He does not want to throw that all away just to save one life, even if it is someone he loved. I hope I have given a clear answer.

Also, one of you said something was wrong but did not specify what it was. While I do appreciate and listen to feedback, I can't make the corrections necessary unless you guys tell me what it is.

With those out of the way, please enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Based on characters and references created by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!

* * *

As the bright light from the book finally dims, Red Arrow and Azrael find themselves in an open field surrounded by trees. This is a location they know from many nightmares.

"Why here?" Azrael asks frantically. "Why here?!"

Suddenly, the Book becomes transparent in their hands and floats upward to the point where it was impossible to reach.

"I see now," Azrael says as his gaze turns to Red Arrow. "Our conflict must be resolved." He takes the demon mask from his belt and slips it on. He then redraws his sword and points it at Red Arrow. "And the victor WILL be me."

Red Arrow, in kind, puts on the replica mask of Prometheus and unsheathes his bow.

"We'll see about that."

Azrael grips the sword with both hands and raises it close to him, light shining off the edge. Red Arrow positions his bow a little ways away from himself, his empty hand raised between the weapon and his face. Both of them stare each other down, waiting for their opponent to make the first move. Red Arrow remains calm, anticipating which strike Azrael will do first. Azrael's fingers fiddle with the grip impatiently, his lead foot twitching. Flaring nostrils are heard behind the mask, getting louder each time.

Then, as Red Arrow anticipated, Azrael charges in screaming with a thrust.

_Bloodthirsty, arrogant. Easy to counter. _

Red Arrow sidesteps the thrust and swings his bow at Azrael's head. Azrael seemed to have expected it, though, for he ducks his head at the last second. He then swings his sword in a downward arc, which Red Arrow blocks just in time.

The strength of the strike staggers Red Arrow back, letting Azrael continue his assault. He attacks nearly every angle, a strategy Red Arrow used often to probe an opponent's defenses. He adapts to this by matching Azrael blow for blow, minimizing every window of opportunity.

_Further analysis shows similarities in strategy, trying to find a weakness instead of just pile driving through. However, he is much more aggressive. Wait for a window, then strike. _

Red Arrow finds his opportunity by blocking an overhead strike and redirecting it to the side. He then employs a spinning backfist targeted at Azrael's face.

_Come on. You think Bruce is the only one who teaches mind games? Block, then trap arm._

As the backfist comes in, Azrael blocks it with a helmet guard then immediately shoots the arm out to trap Red Arrow's wrist.

_Employ throw._

Azrael then throws Red Arrow over his shoulder and onto the ground. As Red Arrow lands on his back, his grip on his bow is loosened and it flies several meters away from them.

_Now, go for the killing blow._

_Counter quickly!_

As Azrael's plunges the sword down, Red Arrow quickly dodges it, grabs Azrael while he is crouched, and delivers a knee strike to his masked face. He stumbles back, which allows Red Arrow to quickly get up and use an explosive arrow on the sword, leaving it in millions of pieces.

Azrael, despite loosing his weapon, laughs. "Don't you see? I know how you THINK. How you'll act! You were raised by cowards, AFRAID to cross a line. Me?! I'll been raised by the greatest killers of all time! Trained to not hesitate. To feel no remorse for my kills! And what training do you have, besides how to beat criminals senseless only for them to be back out on the streets again?"

Red Arrow stares at Azrael with disgust. "I have a father who taught me how to fix myself when I was broken. A mentor who taught me how to fight with a moral code. While you will have a mother who grows to RESENT you."

With a scream, Azrael throws a shuriken at Red Arrow, which he counters with one of his arrowheads.

* * *

Barry just barely dodges Malcolm's arrow. As he reaches into his quiver, Malcolm runs in and push kick's him down. Barry tries to get up, but Malcolm grabs him quickly and throws him towards a tree. Malcolm then takes Barry's face and slams his head in.

Barry groans. His jaw and skull aren't broken, but he feels disoriented and his whole head is in pain.

"Come on Barry Allen," Malcolm taunts. "Is that really all you got?"

With the pain clouding his thoughts, Barry goes for a cross at Malcolm's face, which Malcolm immediately parries and returns in kind.

While Barry leans on the tree in pain, Malcolm laughs. "Embarrassing. At least Oliver put up more of a fight! You know what your problem is? Your too kindhearted. Compassionate. You can't use your anger like Oliver. You can't take all that trauma and turn it into a weapon! I guess the deaths of those you love mean NOTHING to you!"

Malcolm's words anger Barry to where some of his pain is numb. He swings his bow, but Malcolm is able to grab and counter with a hook punch too fast for Barry to block. Malcolm then comes in with a series of punches, knees, and kicks which Barry can do nothing about except block and hope for an opening.

* * *

Oliver can barely keep his distance from Reverse Flash. Every time he turned the corner or hopped to and from a branch, Thawn is there to try and knock him down, but the blows just nearly miss.

Knowing that he can't keep up the chase any longer, Oliver turns back and runs at Reverse Flash, ready to deliver a surprise punch. But Reverse Flash just sidesteps it and push kicks him into a tree.

"Look at you," Reverse Flash says as Oliver slowly recovers. "You can't even touch me. Where was that speed from when you outran Amazo or took down all those thugs in the Asylum? Or were those just moments of LUCK?"

Oliver charges in again and tries to land blow after blow on Reverse Flash, but he dodges every one of them. Reverse Flash then grabs Oliver and flings him into the tree, following it up with lightning fast punches. Oliver can feel the pain in his torso going from aching to unbearable in a few seconds. When Reverse Flash finishes, Oliver slides down the tree, unable to move and breathe properly.

"At the end of the day, you're nothing but a man wallowing in anger and hubris, calling it 'strength,'" Reverse Flash insults Oliver. "Your joy is always fleeting because your mistakes drive everyone you love away. At least Barry knows how to hold on to them."

Reverse Flash then grabs Oliver and runs, slamming him into a multitude of trees with no breaks at all.

* * *

Azrael throws Red Arrow to the ground. Red Arrow rolls out of it in time to block a raging assault. He tries to counter, but Azrael parries each cross, rolls under every hook, checks every kick and knee, following with strikes that hit ten times harder than Red Arrow's. This continues until they near one of the surrounding trees. Red Arrow feels wobbly, barely able to keep his guard up.

_Comeback options…limited. Adjust strategy._

Red Arrow grabs Azrael's next front kick and tries to move in.

_Took the bait. Now, incapacitate._

Azrael jumps off from his free leg, using his trapped leg as a pivot to perform a spinning kick, knocking Red Arrow down.

Azrael gets up but does not proceed to attack. He gives an amused smile as he looks at Red Arrow, his Prometheus mask barely on, slowly crawl to the tree.

"Predictable," Azrael scoffs. "How can you be a warrior of God if you can't even fight the stronger version of you? You might be the faithful knight, but I am the Angel of DEATH."

Red Arrow leans on a tree for support as he slips his mask back on.

"I am the one who will deliver the sinners to Hell, so their souls can burn for all of eternity! Preserving what good there is left in this world until judgement day."

"Are those…" Red Arrow struggles to ask under his breath. "The Deacon's words? Or Dante's? Because they're…CERTAINLY…not yours."

"I will be everything the Deacon and Dante strived to be." Azrael takes a couple steps forward. "And MORE."

_He's in range. Go for cross._

_Fool will go for a cross. Sidestep and incapacitate arm._

As Red Arrow goes for the cross, Azrael sidesteps and grabs the arm. He then takes out one of his kunai and stabs Red Arrow's arm. As Red Arrow screams in pain, Azrael knee strikes him in the stomach, pushes him to the tree, and grabs him by his mask.

"And you're weak!"

* * *

Malcolm uppercuts through an opening in Barry's defenses, disorienting him. Malcolm then hits him with an onslaught of jabs, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts to the face, all of which should be breaking Barry's jaw and nose, bruising his eyes. But whatever magic the book has is preventing him from having them.

As Barry leans back on the tree, heaving, Malcolm scoffs and says, "You're weak."

Just then, Reverse Flash comes in and throws Oliver into a tree across from them. As Oliver lands on the grassy floor, Reverse Flash also insults him with, "You're weak."

* * *

Red Arrow's breathing slows to a crawl as the pain of Azrael's kunai goes from sharp to bearable. He looks at Azrael, his menacing, gritting smile giving off the feeling of a psychopath. But his eyes, the deeper Red Arrow looks at them, show pain. A familiar one from when he was taken in by Oliver. He would see it every night, every time he woke up from a nightmare and looked into a mirror. Something that he had seen less and less as he trained with Bruce but is somehow much more prominent in Azrael.

Upon realizing why this is, Red Arrow felt temped to laugh, but the pain everywhere else made doing so feel unbearable.

"You're even weaker," Red Arrow says under his breath.

Azrael's psychotic smile starts to fade.

"You wouldn't kill because it's easy. Not because some psychopath taught you how. You do it because you're afraid."

"Shut up."

"You're afraid that those you love will die. That if you do nothing, their blood will be on your hands. And when they do die, you'll do everything in your power to bring them back, but they won't be the same people you knew."

"Be quiet!"

"And that's the difference between you and me! I may still have nightmares, but I learned to control my fears. To use them against those who would do others harm. But you'll end up being an empty husk, killing only to drown out a fear long realized. That your family is DEAD!"

"I SAID BE QUIET!"

Azrael takes the kunai out of Red Arrow's arm. But in that instant, Red Arrow no longer feels any pain there. Whether it was his will or something else, it does not matter. He quickly traps the arm before the kunai could reach the neck. With his other hand, he grabs the arm pinning his face to the tree.

"You'll live your life at the mercy of fear."

Feeling Azrael shaking, Red Arrow slowly moves the arm until his mask is uncovered. He does not know how, but he can feel the eyes becoming red and a mouth forms in the gaps of the mask's leather.

"But fear… is MY WEAPON!"

Suddenly, a swarm of bats fly out of Red Arrow's mouth. They surround Azrael, who screams and swings his kunai everywhere to try and kill them. But the blade just goes through them and they keep attacking and pestering him.

Red Arrow starts to feel the pain wash away as his suit and mask are covered in shadows. He walks over to the now terrified Azrael, grabs his wrist, and twists it inward until he disarms the kunai. He can tell from Azrael's bulging eyes that he no longer sees Red Arrow as Prometheus. Rather, he sees the fear that he never learned to control, never made into an idea to bring dread to others. He is frozen. Speechless.

_Time to finish this._

Red Arrow knees strikes Azrael in the gut. He lets go of the wrist to follow with a hook to the face and finishes with an uppercut that nearly send Azrael flying. He falls to the ground, still breathing, but too weak to get up for a while at least.

A little while after, Red Arrow turns around and sees the Book of Destiny in front of him. Seeing that he is the victor, he takes the book and opens it. Blue energy pours from the pages and onto his sleeves. However, instead of just instantly rewriting reality on his own, he prays:

"God, Father almighty. Creator of Heaven and Earth. Of all things visible and invisible."

* * *

Reverse Flash slowly walks up to Oliver, who leans on the tree in pain. He sees Barry, slowly getting up as Malcolm watches with an amused smirk.

"_I pray to you this day to help me bring reality back to the way it was. To before John Deegan twisted it with his scarred mind. Let my father and Barry Allen return to their respective lives."_

"You barely have anything on this Earth that makes you happy," Reverse Flash continues to insult. "And in the end, you'll just lose it all anyways because of your arrogance. So why even bother?"

Reverse Flash chambers his arm for an electric cross.

"_But let them remember the lessons they learned while experiencing each-others. Amen."_

However, as the cross comes, Oliver feels something coursing through his veins. The same feeling that helped him outrun Amazo on Earth 38. The sense of what he was running to, the things that brought him joy in his life, that made his days in prison bearable. His purpose.

_I must…protect…MY FAMILY!_

Instinctively, Oliver catches the punch. Upon looking at Reverse Flash's shocked expression, he sees his own hand covered in a familiar black glove. He feels his body no longer covered in latex, but leather, a hood over his head and a familiar mask over his eyes.

_Good job William._

The Green Arrow cross punches Reverse Flash in the face and grabs him in a chokehold. He quickly takes out an arrow filled with nanites plunges it just above Reverse Flash's chest.

In an instant, the phasing on Reverse Flash's face fades. But as Green Arrow is about to knock him out, he sees Malcolm readying an arrow. Before he could shoot, a blindingly fast silhouette grabs Malcolm and pins him to the tree. After a moment, the figure becomes more visible, showing Barry back in his Flash suit. The Flash proceeds to barrage Malcolm with lightning fast punches.

With Malcolm out of the way, Green Arrow throws Reverse Flash onto his front and punches him in the back of the neck, ending the fight.

Flash stops and grabs Malcolm by the robe, saying, "My parent's deaths were traumatizing. But MY FRIENDS helped me through it."

The Flash finishes Malcolm with a lightning fast uppercut that launches him into the tree, knocking him out for good.

Before taking a breath, Flash looks at his hand and phases it. Upon seeing this, he smiles.

"I REALLY missed this," Flash admits.

As things quiet down, Green Arrow and Flash hear something similar to a whirlwind in the distance. They look and see bits of blue energy shooting out into the sky, the energy used by the Book of Destiny.

"We need to get to William," Green Arrow points out. "Quick!"

With a nod, Flash grabs Green Arrow and dashes them over to the blue pillar.

* * *

During this moment, Red Arrow feels that he is witnessing God molding the world. Every meticulous detail carefully put into place, both seen and unseen, as reality reverts back to its original state. Even after it is done, the Book does not stop. It shows Red Arrow one more thing. An event that shakes him to his core.

"Mom…is this what you meant?"

Finally, the blue energy is absorbed back into the book. But before it closes, a voice whispers,

"_Reveal this revelation."_

It was no voice that Red Arrow has heard before. But knowing the Book's creator, he chooses not to question it.

"William," Oliver's voice calls.

Red Arrow takes off his mask and smiles as he sees Oliver and Barry back in their respective suits.

A groan can be heard from Azrael, who slowly stands up. Oliver, as the Green Arrow, is about to take an arrow out.

"Wait!" Red Arrow shouts. "Let me handle this."

Green Arrow reluctantly moves his hand away from the quiver.

Azrael, finally standing, limps over to Red Arrow and breathes heavily.

"You may have…won this fight…" Azrael says hoarsely. "But I will NEVER yield…because I know that our mother would never have wanted to di—"

"God."

Azrael stops himself upon hearing her voice. The scene shown to Red Arrow prior plays, with nearly everyone stunned or shocked.

"Samantha," Green Arrow identifies.

"Mom," Azrael says with a low whisper.

They see Samantha sitting on a cot roll in a room similar to where Young William was being held captive on Lian Yu. She looks up as if trying to see the sky, her arms supporting her as she leans back.

"I—I know it's been a long time since I…" She trails off and looks down, as if not knowing what to say next. "I don't know if I stopped because I didn't believe in you or…or if I thought believing in you meant I believed what Blackfire…"

She takes a deep breath, brings her legs to her chest, and puts her hands together in a ball. She looks back up and resumes, "I pray to you now because…because I know that only one of us is getting out alive. So take me."

Azrael's hands tremble.

Samantha then begins to cry, "Please let—let William live. He's a good boy with so much ahead of him. Please let him have a good life. ANY good life. Even if it's not the one I wanted for him. I will take any punishment that I rightfully deserve! Just take me! Please!"

Samantha rests her head on her knees and cries until she fades away. Green Arrow looks to Azrael, who still looks on as if it was not over. Red Arrow can see the sympathy in his father's eyes. He may have been considering whether to walk over to Azrael, to hug him. But he doesn't.

"Mom sacrificed everything to give us a better life," Red Arrow says to Azrael. "If you go forward with changing the future, her prayer will be forfeit."

Azrael slowly turns around, his head bowed, and his fist clenched. Red Arrow readies himself for a possible attack.

Instead, Azrael falls to his knees.

"Just end it." Azrael looks up and yells, "Stop torturing me and end it already!" Tears immediately fall down his face. "Please."

"No," Red Arrow says. He kneels down and continues, "You are a burden. The doubts and fears that I pray everyday to never become true. A reminder of why I am what I am. You are the cross that I must carry."

After a brief pause, Azrael starts to change. The white-hooded, bloodthirsty warrior is now Younger William, unable to hold back his tears. They just look at each other for a while, speaking with their eyes, acknowledging each other for what they are. Then, Younger William becomes a wisp that encases most of Red Arrow's body. It changes his Prometheus suit into his regular superhero suit. However, he cannot feel the mask on his head, nor is it in his hand.

"William," Oliver says after another moment of silence. "I'm so—"

"Well done," a low growling voice behind them says.

The three of them turn around, preparing for a fight. Standing before them is a silhouette covered in a thick green fog. Above the fog is a green hooded figure looking down at them, his face covered by an unnatural shadow.

"No mortal has ever mastered the book as you have since the days of Enoch. You truly are God's Chosen Champion."

Seeing that the figure hasn't attacked them yet, Red Arrow asks, "Are you a messenger from God? Or one of the Devil's servant's?"

"I have been known as many things, an ill omen to most," the figure answers after a bit of hesitation. "But today, I am the former, here to give you your final test."

"No!" Oliver insists, readying his bow. "We're done."

"Dad," Red Arrow tries to intervene. "If this is a messenger from God—"

"I'm done letting you people make MY SON take your tests. We're not listening to anything you have to say!"

"Maybe you'll listen to me," the silhouette suggests as he steps out of the fog.

As his appearance becomes more clear, Green Arrow lowers his bow and looks on with a stunned stare, as does Flash. Red Arrow, seeing the young man with black hair, recognizes him from his display in the Flash Museum, the hall of heroes to be specific.

"Ronnie?" Flash asks in an amazed voice.

The man that looks like Ronnie Raymond smirks. "Yes and no."

"You're dead," Green Arrow states. "You got sucked into the black hole."

"I was, and the experience did nearly kill me. But a higher power gave me another chance."

"God?" Red Arrow asks for clarification.

Ronnie nods. "He said that I have a purpose to achieve, one that involved you William." He then turns to Oliver. "I know this past day hasn't been the best, but I need you to listen. The information I have is important to not just your son, but you and Barry."

After letting out a frustrated sigh, Green Arrow laments, "Fine. But first, you answer some questions. Just what is a chosen and why my son?"

"I thought you would have figured that one out by now," the hooded figure says. "They are those chosen by God to do the greatest of tasks in the mortal realm. Enoch the intermediary, Noah the preserver, Moses the breaker of chains, the wise King David. They and other unsung heroes were chosen for one significant task or another. But few chosen were ever picked after Christ sacrificed his life to save humanity from sin. Eventually, Chosen became nothing but history and lessons of Torahs and Bibles."

"Until William," Ronnie continues. "He is the Chosen Champion of this multiverse. The one who can stop the coming threat. But he needed to be put to the test. To see if his faith could hold fast against the obstacles presented to him."

"But why us?" Oliver asks. "If the tests were for him, why preserve our memories when our realities switched?"

"We never did that," Ronnie states, which surprises them. "You and Barry weren't affected by the change because of what you are. You're more than heroes. You're THE heroes."

"Paragons," the hooded figure answers. "Paragons of what, we cannot yet say. But you are two of the seven who will be at the Chosen's side to fight the threat ahead. You're outing of being such heroes was perhaps coincidence. Or perhaps God knew what you were and thought you needed to be tested as well. But your son is our primary concern."

"And he has just one more test," A more familiar voice echoes out of the blue.

From the forest comes the Monitor, who the Green Arrow aims his bow at. However, the Monitor does not react.

"One that does not require you to share his burden."

"If you think I'm going to let YOU take my son, you are DEAD WRONG," Green Arrow angrily scowls.

The Monitor smirks. "It is not your son I am here to take, Oliver Queen."

With a wave of his hand, the Book of Destiny disappears from Red Arrow's hand, replaced by a dagger. Its blade glows with a white hue and the handle looks to be crafted from the richest gold.

"I am here…for the two of you."

Suddenly, a blue light glows around Green Arrow and Flash. They try and get out but find that it is a barrier that will not let them pass. The light spins around them faster and faster, until their images are nearly incomprehensible.

When Red Arrow sees this, he immediately runs towards them.

"No!" He yells, his arm outstretched.

But as his hand tries to grab his father, they disappear. His hand grabs a fistful of blue ash left behind.

"The dagger you have will nullify the book's effects," the Monitor explains. "And revert reality back to the way it was before once again. If you fail, there will be severe consequences, especially to the paragons. Good luck, Chosen."

Red Arrow doesn't turn back. He can feel frustration. Frustration for so many things not going his way. Secrets being revealed, his family and friends being put in danger, and now his father and favorite hero captured. Yet, he resists the urge to take it out on the person he feels is responsible.

When he hears the Monitor disappear, he forces himself to turn around. Only he, Ronnie, and the hooded figure remain.

"This was not…the deal," Red Arrow mustered while trying to remain calm.

"You were to be tested," The hooded figure reminded Red Arrow. "That was what Novu told you."

"And it was supposed to be me!" Red Arrow yells. "Me and ONLY me! Why did Novu drag everyone else into this?"

"You brought them into this," Ronnie argues.

"Novu turned Amazo against the heroes, knowing FULL WELL that they would get involved!"

"And you could have deserted them to fight him on your own. You could have gone after Deegan alone. But you didn't because you knew that you can't do things like this on your own. Something you learned in Star City while fighting Diaz and the Ninth Circle."

Red Arrow wanted to argue against the point but knows that he can't.

"From here, you can go to any place on Earth 1," Ronnie explains as he slowly steps back into the fog. "Even in the boundary of time and space. And when you stab the book, don't hold it in front of you, or you WILL face punishment for it."

As the fog enraptures Ronnie, it and his silhouette disappear, as does the hooded figure. Red Arrow is now alone with nothing to do but formulate a plan.

* * *

Deegan breathes frantically as he slowly stops swinging. The heroes and the Book are nowhere to be seen. It's just him and the unconscious patients.

He looks up at the rope and claw that holds him in place.

_Come on. There has to be a switch someplace that can get me—_

"Dr. Deegan!"  
Deegan panics as he hears the familiar, thunderous voice that greeted him last night. He sees the Monitor in front of him, somehow in possession of the book. A frown is etched on his face, his steel stare piercing Deegan.

"H-h-hi, Monitor," Deegan nervously greets him. "I can explain this."

"I give you power…and you SQUANDERED it!"

Deegan's head shakes uncontrollably. "NO! No, no, no, no, no! It's not my fault. It was the heroes. They caught me off-guard!"

"Further proving that you cannot master the Book," the Monitor explains. "Perhaps someone else will be able to accomplish what you could not."

"Don't!" Deegan begs before the Monitor could walk away. "Please! Give me another chance. I'm starting to figure it out. I've become in charge of Arkham Asylum. I'm able to fix more patients without hinderance. I even figured out a distraction for the heroes! I CAN do this. Just let me try."

There is a moment's pause. The suspense only heightens Deegan's fears as he whimpers at the inevitability of never having the book back. To not have his life back.

Then, the Monitor smirks at him.

"I admire your persistence."

The Monitor waves his hand and, in an instant, the rope and grapple disappear. Yet, Deegan feels himself hovering in midair, his body readjusting and then put down safely on his feet.

"But you did not do what I asked of you before," the Monitor continues. "With this Book, you can do more than fix patients, steal powers or alter buildings. With it, you can create powers of your own. You can alter this very world. You can repair the damage done to the multiverse. But you can only do so if you have the imagination."

The Monitor presents the Book to Deegan.

"Think bigger. IMAGINE greater."

As Deegan slowly reaches out for the book, he ponders on the Monitor's words, something he didn't do the first time.

_Imagination? Fixing the universe? I can't fix. I'm a doctor. I can only…_

Deegan grips his end of the book tightly.

_I'm a doctor. I see the symptoms; I poke and prod to find a diagnosis. I either cure the disease or let the patient die. No! This is a book that can alter reality. With this, I can cure the common cold, even cancer. But why stop there?! I can cure insanity. I can cure evil! I can rid the universe of those diseases. That harm, maim, and defile! And I'll make it so that the disease can never reproduce, NEVER harm anyone again. Destiny has been riddled with many diseases. I will be its cure. No!_

Deegan opens the book and lets his mind pour through every single event, past and present, to find every disease and expunge it.

_This Book is the cure! I am the doctor! The DOCTOR! OF! DESTINY!_

* * *

_Okay. I have a limited window, but a lot of options. I can go anywhere on Earth 1. Maybe the Bunker to get Team Arrow first. Or I can get Team Flash at Star Labs. They're better equipped to handle the situation. Maybe Kate and Luke in Gotham. It is closer to…wait. The Monitor most likely gave the book back to Deegan and is teaching him how to alter reality, making those places a no go. Which means I have nowhere to go and no one I can rely on in Earth 1, MAKING THIS ENTIRE DEBATE COMPLETELY—_

Red Arrow can't help but punch the nearest tree, the gauntlets breaking off a large piece of bark.

_Why did any of this have to happen?! I'm the one being tested! No one else was supposed to be involved! No one else was supposed to be harmed!_

Red Arrow leans on the same tree and rubs his eyes.

"You look stressed," the voice of his mother says.

Red Arrow can hear her behind him, but he dares not to look back.

"Are you real?" Red Arrow asks. "Or are you something the Book came up with?"

The soft steps of shoes on grass approach him.

"I told you that you would find me here," his mother states. "I did not lie about that."

His fingers impatiently curl, but he continues to fight the urge to see her.

"You made the right choice William," his mother assures her, as if able to read his mind. "There was nothing you could have done. I chose to give my life for yours."

"That's not the problem! My allies are probably in Deegan's thrall while Barry and Dad are imprisoned! Their fates are all in my hands now and I'm already letting them down. None of this should be happening to them! MY BURDEN…it isn't their's to carry."

There is a moment of silence between them. Red Arrow hears his mother sit next to him, which makes him turn away begrudgingly.

"Your father stopped at NOTHING to make sure you came home safe countless times. He would do it again, no matter if you were captured or if you decided that you were better off doing this whole thing alone. So would Barry Allen and MANY of your friends."

Red Arrow can feel a hand on his shoulder pad. He does not shrug it off.

"Ronnie Raymond was right. You couldn't do it all on your own. Not just because it was hard to do so. It's because you have friends, family that you care about, that you would put your life on the line to protect. And they would do the same for you."

"Because I'm the son of THEIR friend."

"But you did not turn them away or keep them out of arms reach. You let them help, knowing full well that they could possibly die along with you. Even Jesus had the Saints, his mother, Joseph, John, Mary Magdalene, even the man who carried the cross for him in the last stretch."

"The man was a stranger the Roman Legionaries picked out of a crowd."

"And Jesus could have chosen to carry the cross on his own. To dismiss the women weeping for him and tending to his wounds. To carry out God's work on his own. But he didn't. He let in others willing to share in his strife because they loved him, for all that he did for them. Don't deny your friends to do the same. Not everything rests on you."

Letting the words sink in, William feels the urge getting stronger until it eclipses all other emotion in his body. Finally, he turns to her, and finds…

No one. Instead, what he finds is something he hasn't seen in years. His Green Arrow action figure left behind in his cell at the temple. He picks it up and examines it, finding nothing unusual. That is, until he flips the toy around and sees something written on the back in white marker. Something that causes him to be taken aback.

"_I'm sorry."_

As soon as he reads it, the toy dissipates into blue ashes. William can feel a tear wanting to form in his eye, his hand that once held a keepsake trembling.

_Mom. I'm…_

However, Red Arrow denies the tear and clenches his fist.

_No! I'm done. I can't give up now. There has to be someplace. Ronnie Raymond said anywhere on Earth 1. Especially…_

Red Arrow's eyes widen as he realizes what Ronnie did for him.

_The boundaries between Earth 1's time and space! Could that possibly mean…_

* * *

"I need all everyone at the bridge now! This is NOT a drill!"

Sara Lance speed walks into the bridge and to the central terminal.

"Gideon, show Star City and Central City in 2018 and scan for any aberrations."

"Affirmative Captain," Gideon complies.

"We're here!" The voice of Ray echoes as he walks in. Along with him are Nate and Constantine. "What's up?"

"We have a situation. The whole world—"

She stops when she sees that they are about three people short.

"Where are the others?" She asks.

"Well, Zari's still getting ready for the day," Nate begins to explain. "Mick is in the middle of writing a novel—"

"And Charlie's currently listening to some rock n' roll," Constantine interrupts. "Won't be here for another few minutes. At least, that's what I reckon."

Sara tilts her head back and lets out a frustrated sigh. Her hands grasp any strand of hair she can get.

_Why now? I know we went through a freaky, time bending event a while back, but can you guys at least be punctual? _

Sara lets out one last breath to calm herself down.

_Don't sweat it. You can catch them up later. This can't wait._

"Regardless," Sara says, "We have some kind of aberration that has just effected the world. Gideon, zoom in on what should be Queen Industries, Star Labs, and the Time Bureau."

As prompted, the images zoom in and show how each location is different.

Star Labs looks pretty much the same, except now it has a large statue on the building of someone they cannot recognize. A bearded man with long hair and wearing something that is hard to make out with the marble except for the cape. A sign over Star Labs' front entrance says _"Doctor Destiny's Science Research Facility."_

A couple of the other buildings didn't show many other changes except in names like _"Deegan Industries"_ and _"Time Correctional Facility."_

"Oh crap," Ray exclaims in horror.

"These are just a few," Sara explains. "This guy's face and name are plastered ALL OVER the world."

"But who is this Deegan or Dr. Destiny guy?" Nate asks.

"I don't know, but he must be the one behind all this. We find the aberration, we solve the problem."

"I'm sorry Captain Lance," Gideon interjects. "But there is nothing to suggest an aberration in the timeline."

Everyone is taken aback. Wide and narrow eyes stare at the places that should be victims of a timeline change.

"Nothing?" Sara asks in disbelief. "But what could possibly—"

Suddenly, Sara hears a whooshing noise behind her. She turns around and sees a breach opening. Assuming the worse, she puts her hands up and gets ready to fight. Everyone else comes to her side and does the same, Nate turning metal, Constantine preparing to use a spell, and Ray taking out his miniaturized suit in case he needs it.

However, as the person slowly comes out of the breach, Sara lowers her guard. She looks at a man clad in black armor with a red arrow on his chest, holding a dagger in one hand and a bow in the other. What catches her attention is his face, looking worn out and somewhat tired, yet his stare is firm. His stare, along with facial hair, are similar to…

"William?" Ray asks as he takes a few steps forward, getting a closer look.

Sara's eyes look to Ray and then back to the guy, almost stunned.

_William…as in Oliver's son?_

"Legends of Tomorrow," the man addresses them. "I need your help."


	16. Chapter 15: Doctor Destiny

**Author's notes: **Hello Readers! Last chapter, I made reference to a review that said something was wrong a couple of chapters ago. I have been updated on the matter and the problem turned out to be a glitch which made new chapters of some stories unable to be found. It is fixed now, but I just wanted to take the time to thank the reviewer for following up and making me aware of the situation. If the problem somehow persists, please let me know. With that out of the way, please enjoy this latest chapter!

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**Disclaimer: **Based on characters and references owned by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!

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"_If you think I'm going to let YOU take my son, you are DEAD WRONG."_

"_It is not your son I am here to take, Oliver Queen."_

"_I am here…for the two of you."_

"_No!"_

Oliver wakes up with a start, breathing frantically. He finds himself in a cell that he is not very familiar with. However, the floor tiles look identical to the floors of Arkham, only much cleaner. He gets up and takes a quick look at himself. His Green Arrow attire has been replaced by an orange jumpsuit. No quiver or bow are on his back.

There is nothing inside his cell but a bed next to him, a toilet, and a door. It is not a metal door like the cells he saw before. They are slick metal bars that let him see some of the outside hallway. He approaches it and starts to recognize where he is.

_This is the hallway with all the special inmates. But it's…different. Is this Deegan's doing?_

"Oliver?" The voice of Barry calls out.

Barry comes into view from one of the cells further down, wearing the same colored jumpsuit. His cell looks very similar, with the exception of some kind of generator placed outside. Most likely, it is powering a dampener like the meta prison back at STAR Labs.

"Barry," Oliver responds with an assured tone. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but where are we?"

"In Arkham. But Deegan must have changed it."

"Which means that Novu gave him back the book," J'onn's voice determines.

To Oliver's left, J'onn appears from the darkness of his cell. He is in his Martian form, but his skin seems to have been simmered, almost burned.

"What happened to you?" Oliver asks.

"I tried escaping my cell by shapeshifting. But the instant I did, sunlamps came on and almost burned me to a crisp. It was like fire was on my face. I'm fine now, but I can't get out with my powers."

"I can't phase out of here either," Barry explains. "It looks like Deegan made these cells to counter our abilities."

Oliver looks out towards each cell to see if he can find anyone else. So far, the cells opposite him are either empty or too far away to see. Most worrying of all, there is no sign of William.

"Is anyone else out there?!"

Suddenly, a head slumps down onto the cell bars right next to Deegan's office. Everyone, including Oliver, are shocked to see Clark breathing weakly.

"H-hey…guys."

His voice still echoes, but his voice is so raspy that it is barely audible.

"Clark?" Barry asks with concern. "What happened to you?"

"K-kryptonite."

"Kryptonite?" Oliver asks.

"A green gem from his home world," J'onn explains. "They weaken Clark, or can outright kill him if exposed for a long period of time."

"They're in…very large quantities, but short bursts. Turn off for a few seconds. But it's like…like they can sense whenever I'm regaining my strength."

Oliver looks behind him. Besides the bed, toilet, and tabletop, there is nothing else. He looks at the lock for the door, which doesn't look very sophisticated. But without something to pick the lock, he's out of luck.

"There's no countermeasures in my cell, but—"

"Your countermeasures are the simplest of all."

Startled by the sudden voice of Deegan, Oliver takes a couple steps back. Deegan stands there with a smirk, somehow appearing out of nowhere. His doctor attire is replaced by a blue suit and a purple cloak.

"I just left you in a cell with nothing to work with."

"Deegan?" Barry inquires, the cloak most likely obscuring his face.

Deegan chuckles. "Yes and no. I have become something far greater. A better hero than ANY of you."

Oliver clenches his fists and asks, "What did you do with William?"

Deegan seems to ignore him, continuing, "I have cured destiny of all the evil throughout our Earth's timeline. I have become its doctor. 'Doctor Destiny,' if you will."

Oliver grabs the bars and yells, "Where's my son!?"

Deegan looks over to him with a calm demeanor. "You mean the only obstacle in my way? That, I do not know. He wasn't found in the book. But I WILL find him."

Suddenly, two blurs enter the room. As they come into focus, they see Mia and Nora stand before Deegan, wearing black ARGUS suits labeled "DESTINY" on their shoulders.

"Dr. Destiny," Mia greets professionally. "The TTC may have found a lead on the Universe Destroyer."

Seeing his daughter in one piece, Oliver calls to her, "Mia!"

However, Mia swings her bow at the prison bars, startling Oliver away.

"Silence your tongue, prisoner!"

Taking just a step forward, Oliver looks into Mia's eyes. He doesn't see the love of a daughter, but the cold stare one would give to an enemy.

"What did you do to our daughters?!" Barry demanded to know.

Deegan flashes a smile. "Why, I simply found potential in their abilities and saw fit to recruit them. They are very handy indeed." Deegan turns to them and commands, "Tell the Director that I'll be there shortly."

"Yes Sir!" Both Mia and Nora exclaim before dashing back out.

Oliver grabs the bars again, this time even more furious. "You bastard!"

"They're lucky," Deegan says. "Their memories and behaviors were easy to change, as was the majority of the world."

"Then why haven't you changed us?" J'onn asked. "Why put us through all of this torture?!"

"Because I can't," Deegan explains. "The book wouldn't allow me, no matter how many times I tried. Delving deeper, though, I discovered why I really couldn't have YOUR powers." He points to both Oliver and Barry. "It's because you four are something else. Something beyond heroes."

Remembering the conversation with Ronnie and the hooded figure, Oliver looks over to J'onn and Clark's peering head.

"They're paragons," Oliver utters.

"That's it!" Deegan says, snapping his fingers. "Paragons! That's what the book said." Deegan places his hands behind his back, pacing the hallway as he continues, "So, my plan to bring you to my side will be much more…'methodical' in nature, as it has been for the few who resist my rule." He stops and turns his attention to Oliver, staring at him coldly. "Once I have your son, I will subject the five of you to VARIOUS experiments. Even if I can't sway you all, your deaths shall give me comfort, knowing that the MAJOR threats are out of the way. And the minor ones…" During the brief pause, Deegan holds out one hand, almost balling it into a fist. The other he raises up. As he does, blue sparks of energy appear out of thin air, combining together to create a rapier. "…I can simply cut down."

Oliver looks at the sword, both amazed and worried. It seems that everyone else does as well.

"You have the book's powers?!" Barry asks.

"Not all of it," Deegan explains. "But many of the things I dream up become reality and whatever I do not like…" The rapier then disappears into blue ashes. "…I can dissolve." Deegan gives Oliver one more cold stare, proclaiming, "Your son will be NO match for me. Not against MY power." He then walks away slowly, still looking to Oliver. "I look forward to our first trials, Oliver. Especially when you get to watch your son BEG for death."

Angry beyond comprehension, Oliver tries to rip the bars away, but finds them impossible to move. All he can do is yell, "Deegan! If you hurt him, I will end you! DEEGAN!"

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Dr. Destiny smiles wryly as the last of Oliver Queen's empty threats fade into echoes.

_Well, that felt invigorating! Showing off my superiority, watching them as they experienced total powerlessness. At this rate, I have won! Most of the evil in this world is gone and what resistance there is will be extinguished before the day is done. _

"John!"

The voice of his lovely wife walks up the stairs to meet him. Seeing her is like watching a memory unfold. Her luscious black hair, beautiful brown eyes, and young appearance are still intact. It is a feeling he can never get over, no matter how many times he has seen her.

His smile goes from that of a man with power to someone who has regained everything once again. "Lydia. How are you handling the newest batch of patients?"

"Pretty well," Lydia answers. "Your latest machines have turned at least 99% of dissidents within the first hour."

"And the 1%?"

"We're trying to put more pressure on them, but they keep to the notion that free will is the ultimate form of goodness. We're scanning their brains for any solutions."

Hearing her talk about crude yet necessary measures made Destiny remember the few changes he made to Lydia. Before, she has been cautious about such experiments, saying that they were not ethically sound. But with the Book, he found a way to keep most of her personality intact without turning her into a total lunatic. To him, it is his greatest creation.

"You'll find it," Destiny assures her. "You always do."

Lydia blushes while flashing an enamored smile. She then takes his hand. "You know, after I'm done, maybe we can get some dinner at that Italian restaurant we like." She places another on his chest. "And maybe some 'fun' afterwards."

The offer entices him, his mind running rampant with the thoughts of the love he wished to rekindle after so long, to forget the trauma and pain of being alone. However, one other thought keeps pushing them down. The last thing the Monitor told him.

"_This world is in your grasp. Soon, others will follow. But know that the Chosen Champion, William Queen, will seek to undo everything you have changed. Defeat him and victory is assured."_

Destiny takes the hand on his chest with his own, looking at her with a regretful stare. "I would love to. But I just received notice of a lead on…HIM."

Lydia looks at him with concern. "The Universe Destroyer?"

"Yes. It may take up a chunk of my time, but I must find him and turn him. It is the only way to ensure the safety of our world, and all the others that we must conquer."

Lydia nods in acknowledgement. "I understand. Do what you must."

Destiny takes her hand to his lips and kisses her knuckles. "We will celebrate his capture when I return." He then gives her a smile. "And let's make it Chinese."

She smiles back, agreeing, "I'll hold you to it."

Lydia starts to walk back the way she came. As Destiny watches her leave, one more thought emerges in his head.

_I won't let him take you away from me. I promise!_


End file.
